GEORGES  CLEMENCEAU 

THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 

GEORGES  LECOMTE 


ia 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 

J.Lorenz  Sporer 


GEORGES  CLEMENCEAU 

THE   TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


GEORGES  CLEMENCEAU 


GEORGES  CLEMENCEAU 

THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


BY 

GEORGES  LECOMTE 


TRANSLATED  BY 

DONALD  CLIVE  STUART 


D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK  LONDON 

1919 


COPYBIGHT,   igiQ,   BY 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 


PRINTED  IN  THE  UNITED   STATES  OF  AMEBICA 


College 
Library 

3>C 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    ALL  FOR  FRANCE   ..........  i 

II.    POLICIES  AND  DEEDS        ........  21 

III.  THE  MAN    ............  101 

IV.  FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS      .....  128 
V.    THE  PATRIOT    ...........  153 

VI.    THE  ORATOR  —  THE  WRITER       ......  190 

VII.    AT  THE  FRONT       ..........  218 

VIII.    VICTORY       ............  264 


HG4-2.15 


GEORGES  CLEMENCEAU 

THE   TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 

THE  life  of  Clemenceau  is  sixty  years  of  battle 
for  Liberty,  for  Justice,  for  a  better  lot  for 
men,  and,  dominating  all,  a  passionate  love  for 
France  which,  for  him,  is  identified  with  this  ideal. 

No  one  in  our  time  has  fought  for  his  opinions 
more  sharply,  with  more  witty  and  bolder  good  hu- 
mor, with  more  implacable,  jovial  and  keen  logic. 

A  party  man  he  certainly  was,  and  with  what  un- 
tiring ardor;  but  without  ever  losing  sight  of  the 
higher  interests  of  his  country! 

Those  who  approached  him  at  the  moment  of  our 
most  violent  internal  struggles  can  ever  bear  wit- 
ness that  the  fierceness  of  his  blows  resulted  less 
from  his  ardent  temperament,  over  which  he  al- 
ways keeps  full  control,  than  from  his  faith  in  the 
correctness  of  his  ideas  and  from  his  conviction 
that,  in  trying  to  have  them  prevail,  he  was  defend- 

I 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


ing  best  the  moral  power  and  the  future  of  the 
country. 

Therefore,  it  is  without  effort  that  he  ceases  to 
think,  write,  speak  or  act  as  a  party  man  each 
time,  in  the  hours  of  international  tension — Tan- 
giers,  Casablanca,  Agadir,  defender  of  the  law  for 
three  years'  military  service — he  feels  it  his  duty 
to  unite  our  forces  and  to  make  a  stand  for  the 
safety  of  France. 

And  from  the  second  of  August,  1914,  the 
day  when  Germany  attacked  without  waiting 
until  war  should  be  declared — so  violent  was 
her  murderous  frenzy — M.  Clemenceau,  having 
no  other  thought  than  the  protection  of  the  coun- 
try, devoted  to  it  all  his  energies,  all  his  vigilant 
clear-sightedness,  all  the  authority  which  his  ardor, 
his  past  as  a  patriot,  his  talent  and  his  services 
gave  him  over  men. 

No  more  adversaries!  And,  what  is  more  dif- 
ficult, no  more  friends  except  those  who,  like  him, 
consecrated  themselves  passionately  to  the  defense 
of  the  French  soil,  of  the  French  soul,  of  the  right 
of  men  and  of  nations  to  be  free !  No  other  party 
than  that  of  France!  His  wonderful  articles  in 

2 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


his  paper,  L'Homme  Libre,  of  a  quickening  firm- 
ness and  of  a  tenderness  which,  while  comforting 
his  readers,  brought  tears  to  their  eyes,  resounded 
like  calls  to  arms,  like  cries  of  love  and  grief. 

Indeed,  those  who  remember  his  noble,  vibrating 
pages  of  L'Awort  at  the  time  when  Pan-German- 
ism wanted  French  capitulation  at  Tangiers  or  war, 
and  his  prophetic  campaign  in  favor  of  a  return  to 
three  years'  military  service,  understood  still  better 
the  great,  radiant  heart  which  hid  itself  under  sar- 
casm, under  irony,  under  combative  fierceness,  and 
the  unconquerable  patriotic  fervor  which  a  half 
century  of  violent  political  struggles  had  not  been 
able  to  quench. 

From  these  very  days  of  anguish,  it  was  evident 
that  Clemenceau,  who,  on  other  points,  had  not  al- 
ways been  in  accord  with  the  whole  of  the  Nation, 
found  himself  in  perfect  communion  of  ideas  with 
it. 

The  terrible  drama  that  he  had  always  foreseen 
and  feared — how  many  of  his  pages  bear  witness  to 
it ! — found  him  morally  ready  for  the  most  resolute 
acts  of  preservation.  In  his  stirring  articles  of 
that  period,  which  one  will  never  re-read  later  with- 

3 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


out  emotion,  he  is  one  of  the  most  faithful  and 
poignant  interpreters  of  the  suddenly  awakened 
heroism  of  the  French  people,  of  the  stoical  res- 
ignation which  this  people  attempts,  in  order  never 
to  lose  this  firmness,  even  during  the  worst  trials. 

And  the  Nation  later  did  not  forget  that  Clemen- 
ceau,  in  relieving  his  own  heart,  had  expressed  mag- 
nificently its  hope,  its  faith,  its  will  not  to  die. 

For  it  was  with  the  knife  at  her  throat,  that 
France,  wholly  given  up  to  her  dream  of  peace,  saw 
brutally  put  before  her  the  question :  life  or  death ! 

Many  pages  of  Clemenceau,  which  are  easy  to 
find  in  his  twenty  years  of  daily  articles,  prove  that 
he  had  not  waited  for  the  cataclysm  to  insist  that 
if  misfortune  wished  the  red  specter  of  war  to  rise 
over  the  world  through  the  act  of  Germany,  insati- 
able for  prey  and  for  power,  it  would  no  longer  be 
for  this  or  that  province  for  which  France  must 
struggle,  but  for  her  very  existence.  And  France, 
torn  from  her  noble,  pacific  illusion,  came  to  under- 
stand, in  a  sudden  illumination,  that  such,  indeed, 
were  the  stakes. 

A  party  man,  who  never  lost  from  view  his  na- 
tion's interest,  Clemenceau  was  also,  with  all  his 

4 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


restrained  ardor,  with  all  the  resources  of  a  quick 
and  clear  intelligence,  all  the  vigor  of  his  nerves 
of  steel  and  of  his  implacable  logic,  with  also  the 
charm  of  his  witty  and  sarcastic  joviality,  a  ter- 
rible fighter. 

Strong  in  his  convictions,  carefully  considered 
and  examined  in  his  heart,  persuaded,  except  in 
case  of  a  successful  demonstration  to  the  contrary, 
that  he  is  right,  he  wills  to  be  right.  He  is  against 
his  habitual  enemies,  of  course;  but  also — and  this 
is  more  meritorious — he  is,  on  occasion,  against  his 
own  friends,  when  he  believes  that  they  are  mis- 
taken. And  in  many  memorable  circumstances,  he 
has  valiantly  proved  it.  For  example,  a  certain 
speech  in  the  Senate  on  freedom  in  teaching,  shows 
that  a  man  of  that  temper  is  a  prisoner  only  of  his 
reason. 

In  battle — which  as  a  courageous  man  he  loves, 
and  the  risks  of  which  have  never  stopped  him — 
he  admits  no  underhanded  attacks,  no  perfidy,  no 
crafty  insinuations. 

He  goes  ahead  with  blows  straight  from  the 
shoulder.  As  they  say  in  the  language  of  the  fenc- 
ing-school, he  has  a  good  thrust  and  a  quick  parry. 

5 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


He  is  a  delicate  blade.  He  plays  close  but  his  play 
is  clean.  As  strongly  as  he  is  assailed,  he  in  his 
turn  remains  wittily  courteous  in  the  most  difficult 
situations,  but  with  a  courtesy  sharpened  and  ready 
for  cutting  replies. 

Can  one  be  astonished  that  good  form  and  po- 
liteness do  not  always  disarm  anger  when  profound 
convictions  and  social  interests  are  concerned?  A 
redoubtable  fighter,  because  of  these  very  qualities, 
M.  Clemenceau,  so  resolute  in  the  defense  of  his 
opinions  and  in  his  care  to  put  his  acts  in  harmony 
with  them,  has  created  for  himself  strong  hatreds 
which,  moreover,  are  renewed  according  to  the 
phases  of  his  uninterrupted  battle  of  sixty  years. 

Beside  the  men  who,  satisfied  for  having  crossed 
swords  for  their  principles  even  if  they  were  de- 
feated, are  proud  of  having  been  at  close  quarters 
with  such  a  fighter  and  who  esteem  him  for  his  un- 
doubted loyalty  and  for  the  fairness  of  his  fighting, 
there  are  others  who  never  pardon  the  wit,  the  elo- 
quence, the  logic  to  which  they  have  succumbed  in 
spite  of  their  merits  and  who,  filled  with  rancor, 
watch  for  the  hour  of  cunning  revenge. 

Finally  there  are  those  who,  worthy  of  respect 
6 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


for  the  ardor  of  their  convictions,  but  not  separat- 
ing the  ideas  which  they  execrate  from  the  cham- 
pions by  whom  the  ideas  are  defended,  wish  to 
knock  down  men  in  order  to  strike  at  their  doc- 
trines. 

A  redoubtable  adversary,  because  he  incessantly 
battled  for  his  convictions,  which  have  never 
varied  for  sixty  years  and  which  never  admit  of 
compromise,  M.  Clemenceau  garnered  in  the  course 
of  his  long,  harassed  existence,  an  ample  harvest 
of  such  hatreds.  Some  of  them  were  implacable. 
As  happens  too  often  in  the  feverishness  of  po- 
litical struggles  in  which,  wholly  given  over  to  the 
passion  of  the  passing  moment,  one  does  not  take 
enough  care  to  keep  intact  one's  forces  of  the  future, 
they  do  not  give  way  before  the  most  prodigious 
phantasmagoria.  And  the  crowds,  too  often  be- 
wildered by  a  vehemence  which  does  not  grow 
weary  of  making  a  great  disturbance,  and  not  hav- 
ing enough  coolness  to  control  their  impressions, 
throw  off  all  restraint. 

As  a  result,  M.  Clemenceau's  usual  mode  of  ac- 
tion was  modified  for  a  short  time.  Up  to  that 
moment  he  had  spoken  much  and  acted  still  more. 

7 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


From  that  time  on,  deprived  for  some  years  of  the 
parliamentary  tribune,  he  wrote  more  than  he  spoke. 

Who  could  complain?  Not  French  literature 
surely,  which  he  enriched  with  masterly  pages.  Nor 
is  it  the  cause  of  human  progress  which  can  suffer, 
nor  that  of  the  country  which,  with  his  pen  in 
his  hand,  he  did  not  cease  to  serve  powerfully  with 
still  more  liberty  than  he  had  had  on  the  tribune, 
where,  in  order  to  prove  his  point,  every  orator, 
fascinating  as  he  may  be,  must  reckon  with  the  im- 
mediate opposition  of  his  audience. 

In  the  peace  of  his  study,  whence  he  appeals  to 
the  men  of  his  time  through  newspapers  and  books, 
each  one  of  his  writings  is  a  deed.  Moreover,  in 
this  new  form  he  continues  to  say  the  same  thing, 
to  uphold  the  same  political  and  social  conceptions. 
In  the  meditation  of  a  life  which  from  that  time  on 
is  spared  external  disturbance,  the  more  he  puts 
his  ideas  to  the  test,  the  more  he  is  convinced  of 
their  correctness.  With  sharp  dialectics,  in  strong 
and  concise  language,  he  defends  his  unchangeable 
doctrines  by  discussing  subjects  which  the  passing 
hour  chances  to  offer. 

Far  from  being  struck  to  the  ground,  he  discov- 
8 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


ers  an  unsuspected  talent.  He  has  been  forced  to 
forge  a  new  weapon.  A  great  writer  is  born  to 
us.  And  we  have  a  great  orator,  ready,  when  the 
hour  comes,  to  reanimate  the  tribune  with  his  ful- 
minating logic. 

He  remains  a  force;  and  even  a  force  increased 
by  means  of  action  that  no  one  suspected.  With- 
out awaiting  the  caprice  of  voters,  M.  Clemenceau 
finds  in  himself  the  possibility  of  serving  Liberty, 
Right,  France. 

Short-lived  hatreds  luckily  have  not  succeeded  in 
making  absolute  confusion,  for  we  were  not  far 
away  from  the  critical  hours — Tangiers,  Casa- 
blanca, Agadir,  three  years'  military  service,  War! 
— when  if  such  a  force  had  really  been  struck  down 
in  the  hubbub  of  our  internal  struggles,  France 
would  have  been  deprived  of  one  of  her  most  fer- 
vent and  useful  champions. 

Even  those  who  then  struck  him  the  hardest 
blows  were  the  first  to  rejoice — because  they  are 
patriots  before  all  else — that  these  blows  had  not 
been  mortal. 

What  a  lesson !  Let  us  meditate  upon  it.  Above 
all,  may  we  keep  the  memory  of  it  when,  on  the 

9 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


morrow  of  victory,  our  political  quarrels  will  spring 
up  again,  unless  our  fraternity  of  five  years  of  sor- 
row and  suffering  preserve  us  from  them. 

As  for  me,  how  could  I  ever  forget  that  evening 
last  winter  when,  with  the  other  representatives, 
of  a  sorrowing  association,  we  went  to  see  M. 
Clemenceau  in  the  Premier's  office,  in  order  to  tell 
him,  in  the  name  of  our  dead,  the  hope  that  we  all 
— whatever  our  opinions  were  before  1914 — placed 
in  him  for  an  energetic  conduct  of  the  war  until  a 
consoling  victory  was  won. 

All  the  men  assembled  around  him  had  the  right 
to  speak  since  all  were  suffering  for  the  country, 
since  all  were  constituting  themselves  the  pious  in- 
terpreters of  the  young  Frenchmen  who  had  been 
sacrificed  in  order  that  France  might  live. 

But  how  many  more  of  those  were  among  them 
who,  joining  the  torture  of  anxiety  to  that  of  re- 
grets and  grief,  have  still,  after  such  sacrifices, 
children  in  the  battle  and  are  breathless  with  fear 
to-day  at  the  same  time  that  they  weep  over  the 
anguish  of  yesterday.  Apprehensions  they  hide, 
tears  they  choke  back  in  order  to  feel  them- 

10 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


selves  more  worthy  of  the  sons  whose  resignation 
and  heroism  dictate  to  them  their  duty  fprever. 

Delegations  of  bruised  people  whose  voice 
makes  the  voice  of  the  dead  heard  cannot  be  ne- 
glected. Among  its  members,  all  thinking  only  of 
the  safety  of  the  country,  dreaming  only  of  strength- 
ening by  their  confident  sympathy  the  action  of  the 
patriot  minister  who  directs  with  so  much  ardor 
the  work  of  national  defense,  was  found  one  of  the 
men  who,  deceived,  and  convinced  that  they  were 
acting  in  the  interest  of  the  country,  formerly  flung 
themselves  violently  in  tragic  hand-to-hand  struggles 
against  M.  Clemenceau. 

There  are  terrible  conflicts  of  the  past,  which, 
however,  very  few  of  those  present  remember. 
These  stories  count  so  little  in  history  when  they 
have  not  killed  their  men  at  the  first  onset  or  para- 
lyzed his  power  forever! 

While  still  very  young,  I  had  been  the  unhappy 
witness  of  this  clash.  In  spite  of  the  emotions  and 
the  troubles  of  the  hour,  I  remembered  it.  For  the 
first  time  since  that  battle  I  saw  these  two  ancient 
adversaries  face  to  face.  And  I  looked  at  them. 

In  what  a  different  atmosphere  and  with  what 
ii 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


other  feelings  they  found  themselves!  The  aggres- 
sor of  former  times,  who  had  struck  these  blows  in 
the  name  of  the  country,  came  to  tell  Clemenceau 
of  his  confidence  in  his  patriotic  energy,  to  place 
in  him  the  hope  of  a  tortured  father  who  does  not 
want  the  sacrifice  of  his  heroic  child  to  be  in  vain. 

Since  this  furious  assault  twenty-five  years  have 
passed  during  which  the  minister  of  to-day,  con- 
tinuing the  senator  and  the  polemist  of  yesterday, 
the  orator  and  the  deputy  of  former  years,  has 
multiplied  his  efforts  to  have  France  strengthen  her 
armor  of  defense  and  to  keep  faith  in  herself. 

Perhaps  our  companion,  to  whom  a  similar  grief 
united  us,  was  so  grateful  to  M.  Clemenceau  for 
his  salutary  campaigns  and  for  his  proud,  French 
attitude,  that,  quite  naturally,  he  no  longer  remem- 
bered their  less  cordial  encounter  in  the  past. 

To-day,  there  are  in  all  hearts  so  many  more 
anxious  preoccupations  in  which  it  is  right  that 
these  indistinct  trifles  should  be  submerged!  At 
any  rate,  not  one  of  us  showed  the  Chief  of  the 
National  Defense  more  esteem  and  gratitude. 

As  touching  as  the  interview  was,  I  wished  that, 
for  thi  moral  value  of  this  lesson,  our  companion 

12 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


had  forgotten  nothing  and  that,  at  this  very  mo- 
ment, in  the  fervor  of  his  patriotic  hopes  and, 
under  the  pressure  of  sorrow  which  was  making  him 
speak,  he  had  had  enough  memory — I  do  not  speak 
of  his  sincerity,  which  is  beyond  the  shadow  of  a 
doubt — to  say  to  himself,  "What  good  fortune  for 
France  that  our  blows  did  not  carry  and  that  this 
Frenchman  is  still  standing  to  defend  her!" 

I  do  not  know  what  happened  really  in  his  soul ; 
but  I  am  sure  that  before  this  adversary,  who  one 
day  had  disengaged  himself  from  a  group  of  men 
to  leap  in  fury  at  Clemenceau's  throat  and  strike 
him  down,  the  Minister  of  War  acted  and  spoke 
as  if  he  had  forgotten,  as  if  nothing  of  these  old 
struggles  between  Frenchmen  had  remained,  could 
not  remain  in  the  mind  of  a  man  who  is  thinking 
only  of  maintaining  the  union  of  all  citizens  for  the 
supreme  effort  for  deliverance  and  who,  neglecting 
all  that  divided  us  for  the  collective  work  of  na- 
tional defense,  is  haunted  by  but  one  idea — the 
safety  of  his  country. 

"I  am  not  here  to  play  politics,"  he  declared  to 
us.  "I  am  making  war." 

13 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Calm,  attentive  to  the  suggestions  of  the  speak- 
ers, he  told  us  his  hopes  and  what  we  could  do,  in 
a  moral  way,  to  help  him  to  realize  them.  Neither 
his  black  eyes,  so  alert,  so  lively  in  his  quiet  face, 
nor  his  voice,  grave,  like  his  meditation,  in  spite  of 
its  unaltered  youthful  ring  and  certain  shades  of 
combative  joviality,  reveal  any  memory  of  former 
times. 

Some  prejudice  remained  against  him  in  the 
country  where  bursts  of  confidence  and  instinctive 
admiration  for  certain  men  were  often  disconcerted 
by  his  harsh  criticism. 

It  was  difficult  to  pardon  him  for  the  sharpness 
of  his  attacks  against  the  most  popular  men  among 
those  who,  after  having  saved  all  they  could  for 
France,  that  is  to  say,  her  honor,  founded  the  Re- 
public with  him  and  organized  it  by  trying  to  main- 
tain order  in  the  newly  won  liberty. 

He  was  against  any  scattering  of  our  forces  for 
the  sake  of  the  conquest  of  a  great  colonial  empire. 
The  reasons  which  he  gave  so  eloquently  for  this 
fight  for  a  more  rapid  realization  of  the  democratic 
regime  or  for  the  grouping  of  all  our  military  forces 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


against  German  aggression,  always  to  be  feared, 
were  far  from  having  convinced  every  one. 

The  ardent  patriotic  campaigns  of  Clemenceau 
in  fateful  hours,  his  attitude,  so  firm,  so  dignified, 
so  clever  in  the  face  of  German  demands,  at  the 
time  of  the  dangerous  conflict  in  regard  to  the 
deserters  of  Casablanca,  and  later  his  magnificent 
articles  in  which  the  national  soul  found  expression 
of  its  will,  caused  little  by  little  the  old  misunder- 
standing to  disappear. 

Clemenceau,  who  had  never  ceased  to  exercise 
great  power  through  his  talent  as  an  orator  and 
writer,  and  who  kept  through  it  all  his  prestige  in 
the  eyes  of  countless  Frenchmen,  appeared  to  most 
of  them  as  a  force  in  reserve  and  a  hope. 

How  many  times  in  the  course  of  recent  trips 
to  our  villages  and  cities  have  we  not  heard  said 
by  good  people  who  were  formerly  stubborn  but 
now  won  over:  "Sometimes,  I  felt  so  far  away 
from  him!  I  have  not  always  liked  him!  But  we 
must  recognize  the  fact  that  without  him  so  many 
sacrifices  were  running  the  risk  of  having  been 
made  in  vain,  and  his  mighty  hand  has  saved  every- 

15 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


thing.  .  .  .  He  is  my  man  today,  because  he  is 
France's  man." 

Yet  it  is  not  alone  the  roaring  of  his  fiery  pas- 
sion against  the  measures  of  certain  ministers  who 
had  come  into  power  since  1914  which  irritated 
people  against  him.  They  were  astonished  that  in 
the  midst  of  war  he  launched  such  vigorous  cam- 
paigns against  methods  which  he  considered  bad 
and  against  men  whom  he  reproached  with  not 
being  able  to  free  themselves  from  these  methods. 
His  reasons  were  not  always  understood  There- 
fore many  people  were  irritated. 

Displeased  at  such  vehemence  in  such  a  crisis, 
they  did  not  make  allowance  for  that  ardor  which 
glowed,  for  that  conviction  which  wants  to  con- 
vince, that  anxious  and  passionate  love  for  France. 
They  did  not  take  into  consideration  that  these  vio- 
lent imprecations  and  these  sharp  remarks,  which 
relieved  the  apprehension  of  a  Frenchman  whose 
whole  strength  is  being  exerted  for  the  safety  of 
the  country,  harbor  no  lasting  hatred  against  indi- 
viduals. Scarcely  is  the  resistance  broken  down, 
when  the  sarcasm  or  the  reproach  hurled  in  the 

16 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


battle  is  effaced  from  his  mind,  ardent  but  without 
rancor. 

His  friends,  without  getting  too  much  stirred  up 
over  the  keen  shafts  of  his  irony,  and  without  tak- 
ing the  harshness  of  his  polemics  tragically,  may 
have  sometimes  regretted  his  judgment  of  certain 
men  and  certain  deeds.  Yet  even  when  it  happened 
that  they  were  not  in  accord  with  him,  since  they 
knew  his  clear-sightedness,  his  sincerity  and  his  de- 
sire to  serve  his  country,  they  still  did  him  the 
honor,  while  not  sharing  certain  of  his  opinions, 
of  being  disturbed  over  such  lack  of  harmony. 
Therefore,  estimating  at  its  high  value  the  great 
French  force  which  M.  Clemenceau  represents  with 
his  clearness,  his  energy  and  his  radiance,  they  did 
not  cease  saying  to  those  who  were  exasperated  by 
his  violent  censure  since  the  beginning  of  the  war: 
"Don't  get  angry!  Have  faith  in  his  love  for 
France!  He  is  the  sentinel  on  watch  on  the  ram- 
parts. His  sharp  black  eyes  are  fixed  upon  the 
drama.  At  the  least  flutter  of  his  old  heart  beating 
for  the  deliverance  of  the  country,  he  utters  a  wild 
cry  of  alarm!"  To  those  who  are  bitter  and  sad 
and  who,  fearing  the  breaking  down  of  our  re- 

17 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


sistance,  wish  that  the  voice  of  M.  Clemenceau 
might  lose  its  prestige  in  his  country,  we  repeat: 
"What  impudence !  What  a  mistake !  Let  us  rather 
keep  this  force  alive.  The  war  will  not  end  with- 
out us  being  in  need  of  him.  In  critical  days,  if 
they  must  come  again,  perhaps  we  shall  be  relieved 
and  very  glad  to  have  at  the  helm  this  pilot,  who 
for  four  years  has  been  leaning  over  the  unfathom- 
able depths." 

The  critical  days  which  were  feared,  came.  In 
a  period  of  wavering  and  uneasiness  it  was  dis- 
covered that  the  soil  of  the  country  was  mined  and 
that,  protected  by  weakness  or  culpable  plots, 
bandits  in  the  pay  of  Germany  were  setting  their 
wits  to  work  to  demoralize  the  Nation,  to  corrode 
the  stoicism  of  our  soldiers,  to  break  the  instrument 
of  our  salvation. 

It  was  a  fearful  plot  through  which  we  almost 
perished.  Clemenceau  was  in  the  front  rank  of  the 
courageous  Frenchmen  who  denounced  it.  He  de- 
manded punishment  for  it  from  the  tribune  of  the 
Senate,  on  the  authority  of  the  services  rendered 
by  him,  in  such  a  clear-seeing  manner,  to  the  Sena- 
torial Commissioners  of  the  Army  and  of  Foreign 

18 


ALL  FOR  FRANCE 


Affairs.  All  France  trembled  at  his  voice.  What! 
After  three  years  of  heroism  and  sacrifice,  that  is 
what  we  have  come  to!  Indifference,  carelessness, 
intrigue  were  running  the  risk  of  making  all  this 
useless.  War-like  effort  was  paralyzed  by  such 
machinations. 

Rising  up  against  defeatism,  Clemenceau  had 
just  proved  that  he  was  indeed  the  watchful  and 
resolute  sentinel.  Popular  acclaim  made  it  under- 
stood that  he  had  been  the  interpreter  of  the  hope 
of  France. 

A  great  and  irresistible  swing  of  opinion  swept 
him  into  the  power  to  carry  on  the  war  resolutely 
until  the  liberation  of  the  country. 

For  almost  a  year,  without  distinction  of  party 
or  origin,  all  French  patriots  who  love  their  country 
enough  not  to  play  politics  at  this  moment,  are  be- 
hind him  with  united  and  beating  hearts.  Unanim- 
ity of  action  has  been  brought  about  among  all 
those  who  without  giving  up  any  of  their  personal 
opinions,  are  thinking  of  the  safety  of  their  country 
and  its  future. 

The  power  of  M.  Clemenceau's  policy  is  strength- 
ened by  the  warm  confidence  with  which  he  feels 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


himself  surrounded  and  which  he  justifies  by  the 
most  energetic  conduct  of  public  affairs  and  of  the 
war. 

The  nation  recognizes  itself  in  him.  He  ex- 
presses his  soul  in  each  one  of  his  words.  He 
realizes  its  will  in  each  one  of  his  acts.  There  is  a 
perfect  understanding  between  France  and  the  head 
of  the  government.  This  is  one  of  the  most  precious 
elements  of  Victory. 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 

THE  political  career  of  M.  Clemenceau  is  too 
well  known  by  all  for  it  to  be  necessary  to 
comment  at  length  upon  its  different  stages  and 
incidents;  but  at  least,  they  permit  us  to  perceive, 
in  passing,  certain  essential  traits  of  this  striking 
figure  which,  from  now  on,  is  in  the  immediate 
foreground  of  history. 

Born  the  twenty-eighth  of  September,  1841,  at 
Mouilleron-en-Pareds,  near  Fontenay-le-Comte, 
and  having  his  secondary  education  at  the  Lycee 
de  Nantes,  this  young  Vendean  recruit  arrived  in 
Paris  in  1860,  during  the  Second  Empire.  He  came 
to  study  medicine  and  fulfill  his  apprenticeship  for 
man's  estate  in  the  Latin  Quarter,  over  which  a 
thrill  of  liberty  was  already  sweeping. 

His  father,  also  a  doctor,  philosopher,  democrat, 
a  lover  of  books  and  of  beauty,  had  already  inspired 
in  his  son,  through  his  personal  influence,  a  desire 

21 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


for  a  serious  life  in  the  laboratory  and  the  library 
where  the  future  doctor  feels  developing  within 
himself  the  taste  for  positive  sciences,  exact  knowl- 
edge and  logical  reasoning. 

One  morning  in  1845  after  Orsini  had  thrown 
his  bomb  on  the  retinue  of  Napoleon  III,  the 
authorities,  quickly  seized  with  a  madness  for  re- 
pression, tore  the  father  of  Clemenceau  away  from 
his  patients  and  his  books  to  cast  him  hurriedly  into 
exile  along  with  a  number  of  other  men  no  less 
innocent  of  this  crime.  The  young  student,  indig- 
nant at  beholding  his  father  arrested  without  reason 
by  two  gendarmes,  embracing  him,  made  this  prom- 
ise, with  clenched  teeth :  "I  will  avenge  you !" 

"Work!"  simply  replied  his  father  with  hand- 
cuffs on  his  wrists  which,  moreover,  were  removed 
eight  or  ten  days  later,  so  strong  was  the  revolt  of 
the  people  against  such  absolutely  unjustified  vio- 
lence. 

This  dialogue  is  worthy  of  antiquity.  We  only 
recall  it  to  show  in  what  a  serious  and  fervent  state 
of  mind  our  medical  student  came  to  the  study  of 
science. 

It  is  these  months  of  studious  youth,  ennobled  by 

22 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


an  ardent  desire  for  knowledge,  by  this  lofty  ideal- 
ism, which  will  always  be  accompanied  by  his  love 
for  the  real  and  the  true,  that  Clemenceau's  clear 
brain  began  to  acquire  that  strong,  general  culture, 
always  increased,  at  all  times  and  through  all,  by  a 
vast  amount  of  reading. 

That  is  one  of  his  characteristics  which  must  be 
remembered  from  now  on,  because  it  distinguishes 
him  from  many  practical  men  of  action  who  are 
sometimes  a  little  too  negligent  of  opinions,  and 
because  it  appears  at  every  hour,  in  all  the  forms 
of  his  activity. 

But  this  nervous  and  vigorous  Vendean  had  too 
much  impetuous  vitality  and  was  tempered  too 
early  in  life  by  a  healthy  existence  in  the  country, 
by  the  pleasures  of  the  open  air,  to  find  joy  and 
interest  only  among  books. 

The  life  of  his  epoch,  with  its  grandeurs,  its  sad- 
ness, its  graces,  with  unexpected  picturesqueness 
and  even  its  banality,  sometimes  so  stimulating,  with 
its  struggles  of  ideas  and  the  ferments  which  agitate 
secretly  the  great  city,  arouse  this  young  man, 
whose  whole  career,  in  his  discourses,  in  his  political 
policies,  in  his  writings,  reveals  him  so  full  of  life, 

23 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


so  in  love  with  life,  so  fitted  to  create  life.  Again, 
this  is  one  of  the  essential  traits  of  his  personality. 
With  what  curiosity,  with  what  fervor  he  plunges 
into  the  life  of  his  times !  His  father  was  a  repub- 
lican idealist,  a  faithful  servant  of  democracy  of 
which  he  had  never  asked  any  thing  except  to  be 
worthy  of  the  hope  which  believers  of  his  kind 
placed  in  it.  He  was  exactly  the  type  of  man  of 
1848,  generous,  disinterested,  brotherly,  patriotic; 
and  he  had  implanted  in  the  heart  of  his  son  his  love 
for  liberty.  The  Latin  Quarter  was  captivated  by 
him.  What  a  charming  way,  when  one  possesses 
nobility  of  character  to  carry  ones  eighteen  years 
of  age!  Clemenceau  shares  its  thrills.  He  fre- 
quents rarely  the  debating  societies  whose  purely 
verbal  agitation  seems  sterile  to  him.  Life  in 
Bohemia  does  not  amuse  him ;  but  he  soon  mingles 
in  the  less  disordered  meetings  where  his  clear  firm 
thinking,  his  logic  and  his  clean  cut  speech  are 
appreciated.  He  is  of  those  men  who,  even  before 
they  have  a  right  to  vote,  have  a  manner  of  author- 
ity. He  collaborates  on  ephemeral  journals  of  the 
opposition  party  where  his  articles  make  him 
suspected  by  the  government. 

24 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


A  few  weeks  passed  in  the  prison  of  Mazas,  in 
1862,  for  writings  pronounced  subversive  of  order 
and,  in  1865,  his  doctor's  thesis  on  The  Genera- 
tion of  Anatomic  Elements  in  which  he  reveals  his 
fondness  for  experimental  philosophy,  are  the  two 
first  facts  which  can  be  inscribed  on  his  record. 
After  this,  curious  about  the  world,  he  travels  in 
order  to  see  what  men  are,  elsewhere,  and  how  they 
organize  their  efforts;  in  order,  also,  to  love  and 
know  France  better  and  to  serve  her  better.  There 
is  his  stay  in  England  and  then  a  longer  stay  in 
America  where,  as  a  very  scholarly  doctor,  he 
teaches  French  literature  and  translates  Stuart 
Mills'  book,  Auguste  Comte  and  Positivism. 

Then  he  returns  to  France.  It  is  in  Montmartre 
among  the  artisans,  the  employees,  the  shop  keep- 
ers, and  the  lesser  bourgeoisie  of  the  Butte  that  he 
sets  up  his  hope  for  social  betterment,  his  will  for 
justice.  He  cares  for  the  people.  He  counsels 
them.  He  guards  them  from  moral  sickness,  from 
Utopian  schemes,  from  discouragement.  Ardent  and 
strong,  full  of  faith  in  the  future,  he  is  the  support 
of  the  weak  whom  he  invariably  and  sincerely  loved, 
for  whom  he  always  spoke,  wrote  and  acted,  and 

25 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


whom  he  always  wished  to  protect  from  all  violence 
whether  from  above  or  below. 

In  1871  came  the  war,  the  rending  of  France, 
humiliation,  and  the  suffering  of  defeat.  This 
memory  will  never  be  blotted  out.  His  heart  re- 
mains deeply  wounded  by  this  sorrow.  His  whole 
political  life  retains  the  mark  of  it.  The  Govern- 
ment of  National  Defense  appoints  him  mayor  of 
Montmartre  where  he  is  popular  because  of  the 
moral  and  material  welfare  he  has  brought  about; 
and  in  the  election  in  February,  Montmartre  quickly 
elects  him  its  deputy  to  the  National  Assembly. 

He  is  convinced,  with  Gambetta,  that  if  France 
has  the  courage  to  be  firm  in  her  will  to  resist,  she 
will  wear  out  Germany,  already  tired  of  war,  and 
she  will  obtain,  if  not  victory,  at  least  a  peace  which 
harms  her  less.  Therefore,  at  Bordeaux,  he  votes 
against  the  peace  negotiated  so  painfully  under  the 
Prussian  knife  by  Jules  Favre  and  Thiers. 

With  grief,  and  hope,  he  signs  the  stirring  pro- 
testation of  fidelity  to  Alsace-Lorraine.  This  is  a 
solemn  oath  which  pledges  his  whole  life,  which  he 
has  never  forgotten,  and  which  he  will  keep. 

26 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


Then  come  still  more  torturing  hours:  civil  war 
under  the  eyes  of  the  conqueror,  in  the  midst  of  all 
the  ruin.  The  ferment  is  most  violent  at  Mont- 
martre.  He  hurries  there  and  tries  to  calm  the 
wrath,  to  clear  up  fatal  misunderstandings  and  to 
restore  harmony  after  so  much  suffering. 

The  first  shots  are  fired  at  Montmartre.  Another 
of  his  characteristics  which  must  be  remembered,  is 
that  he  is  horrified  by  violence,  by  the  hazardous  and 
summary  justice  of  the  street  corner,  which  is  al- 
most always  injustice.  Thus,  as  soon  as  he  hears 
the  first  shots,  he  rushes  to  this  possible  tragedy 
to  try  to  stop  it  by  all  the  authority  of  his  youthful 
prestige.  Popular  anger  outstrips  him,  quick  as  is 
his  departure,  and  before  M.  Clemenceau  is  able  to 
arrive,  the  bloody  bodies  of  General  Lecomte  and 
General  Clement  Thomas  are  lying  at  the  foot  of 
the  wall  where  the  mob  has  shot  them.  The  irrep- 
arable has  happened. 

Between  the  Government,  which  has  taken  refuge 
at  Versailles,  to  be  near  the  National  Assembly,  no 
longer  held  at  Bordeaux,  and  the  Commune,  which 
has  just  set  up  its  rebellious  power,  he  rises  to  per- 
form the  task  of  conciliation,  to  avoid  new  violence,. 

27 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


to  spare  the  young  Republic  blood-stains  on  its  flag, 
to  free  its  future  from  rancor  and  wrath,  to  keep 
new  grief  and  suffering  from  being  added  to  the 
present  grief  and  suffering. 

Courageous  attitude!  ungrateful  role!  In  order 
to  gain  entire  freedom  of  action,  he  renounces  his 
office  of  deputy;  but  finds  himself  paralyzed  by  vio- 
lence. Suspected  by  all  those  to  whom,  on  one  side 
or  the  other,  he  preaches  moderation,  he  feels  that 
his  good  will  is  powerless.  Blood  flows.  Ruin  piles 
up.  In  the  delirium,  crimes  increase.  Terrible  re- 
pressive measures  follow. 

After  the  last  volleys  normal  life  takes  up  its 
course.  Montmartre  does  not  hold  a  grudge  against 
Clemenceau  for  having  wished  to  protect  the  people 
against  itself.  From  1871,  convinced  of  the  inter- 
est he  has  in  the  workers,  the  weak,  the  disinher- 
ited, Montmartre  chooses  him  as  its  representative 
in  the  Municipal  Council. 

Indeed,  having  passed  his  youth  in  the  midst  of 
peasants  bowed  by  toil,  and  later,  among  the  work- 
ers in  factories  or  at  the  work  bench,  a  witness  of 
the  hardness  of  their  lot,  the  newly  elected  repre- 
sentative thinks  only  of  ameliorating  the  conditions 

28 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


of  their  work  and  life  and  of  protecting  them 
against  all  abuses  of  power. 

His  fraternal  pity  has  not  talked  more  than  it 
has  wept  He  has  the  restrained  emotion  of  the 
strong.  But  from  that  time  on,  he  affirms,  with 
the  rude  and  sharp  accent  of  sincerity,  a  deep  re- 
spect for  man  and  his  rights.  It  resounds  in  his 
speeches  and  later  puts  into  his  writings  a  note  of 
gently  scolding  tenderness,  and  inspires  his  acts 
many  a  time. 

In  the  course  of  his  long  political  life  this  friend- 
ship for  the  humble  has  never  ceased.  It  is  a 
friendship  somewhat  hard,  which  feels  a  sort  of 
modesty  in  not  allowing  itself  to  be  seen  too  much, 
nor  indulging  in  a  pathetic  note.  Therefore,  having 
dreamed  only  of  liberating  the  people,  of  educating 
them,  and  of  preparing  them  for  equitable,  social 
cooperation,  for  sixty  years  of  active  cordiality,  M. 
Clemenceau  can  smile  and  shrug  his  shoulders  when 
he  hears  himself  called  "an  enemy  of  the  working 
class"  by  grandiloquent  special  orators  whose  heart 
is  perhaps  less  close  to  the  workman  than  is  the 
heart  of  Clemenceau. 

At  the  Communal  Assembly,  of  which  he  became 
29 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


president  when  quite  young,  he  claimed  in  behalf  of 
Paris,  as  a  proof  of  confidence  which  it  merited,  the 
right  to  administer  its  own  affairs,  a  right  enjoyed 
by  all  other  communes  of  France.  He  scarcely  had 
the  time  to  pursue  this  campaign  for  municipal  self- 
government,  at  that  time  so  ardent,  but  of  exagger- 
ated importance,  for  in  the  elections  of  1876,  after 
the  vote  of  the  Constitution  which  organized  the 
Republic  and  after  the  dissolution  of  the  National 
Assembly,  Montmartre  sent  Clemenceau  to  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies  which,  like  the  newly  created 
Senate,  was  sitting  at  Versailles. 

The  first  act  of  the  new  deputy,  in  1876,  was  his 
speech  on  the  immediate  and  complete  amnesty  for 
those  condemned  by  the  Commune.  This  discourse 
is  celebrated  because  of  its  loftiness  of  view,  its 
boldness,  its  logical,  concise  and  vigorous  argument. 

He  pleaded,  as  extenuating  circumstances,  the 
exasperated  and  rebellious  patriotism  of  the  one 
party  and  the  fear  of  the  other  party  of  being  balked 
once  more  in  the  establishment  of  the  Republic,  the 
restlessness  of  poverty  resulting  from  the  too  sud- 
den abolishment  of  the  daily  pay  of  the  national 
guards  before  the  resumption  of  work,  certain 

30 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


blunders  on  the  part  of  the  government,  the  grievous 
folly  of  people  too  long  deceived,  having  suffered 
too  much. 

The  time  to  forget  had  not  yet  arrived;  but  if 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  moved  by  this  striking 
speech  of  moderation,  did  not  follow  M.  Clemen- 
ceau,  at  least  it  hailed  in  him  one  of  the  new  orators 
with  whom  it  would  be  necessary  to  reckon  most 
carefully. 

Very  soon  M.  Clemenceau  appears  in  the  front 
rank  of  men  who,  in  a  Chamber  careful  not  to  push 
evolution  unduly  and  among  ministers  anxious  not 
to  shock  the  habits  of  the  country,  demand  a  rapid 
realization  of  the  democratic  programme. 

The  struggles,  which  at  first  are  intermittent  and 
moderate,  become  after  1880  bitter  and  almost  con- 
tinuous. 

Whatever  personal  opinion  one  may  have  on  the 
two  methods  of  realizing  an  ideal,  and  even  if  one 
regrets  the  lack  of  harmony  which  in  the  two  camps 
hindered  able  men  from  placing  all  their  force  and 
ability  in  the  service  of  France,  one  must  recognize 
that  the  attitude  of  M.  Clemenceau  was  in  accord- 

31 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


ance  with  all  that  is  known  of  his  temperament  and 
of  his  passionate  firmness  of  conviction. 

His  sincerity  is  evident.  He  could  not  think  or 
act  otherwise.  He  is  always  courteous  even  when 
attacking  an  adversary;  but  however  strongly  he 
may  have  been  forced  at  times  to  treat  men  harshly, 
it  was  the  ideas  behind  them  that  he  was  attacking. 

He  fights  bravely,  face  to  face,  and  fairly.  He 
has  physical  courage  as  well  as  moral  courage.  Pre- 
cisely because  he  does  not  insult  or  calumniate  any 
one,  he  does  not  tolerate  insolence  or  spiteful 
insinuations.  His  perfect  politeness  from  which 
nothing  can  make  him  depart  even  in  the  bitterest 
debates,  but  which  is  accompanied  by  a  biting  wit, 
is  distrustful.  Clemenceau  detests  violence,  but  he 
has  a  strong  feeling  of  his  personal  dignity.  And 
on  the  tribune,  or  elsewhere,  he  will  not  allow  any 
one  to  make  a  fool  of  him. 

Smiling,  amused,  quick  to  parry  a  thrust,  he 
accepts  with  humor  even  a  very  sly  response  to  his 
points,  but  he  is  recalcitrant  against  vulgar  insults. 

After  instantly  avenging  himself  by  some  terrific 
joke  which  puts  the  laughter  on  his  side,  he  does 
not  fail  to  gain  complete  satisfaction  by  sending  his 

32 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


seconds  to  call  upon  his  insolent  adversary.  This 
office  was  performed  by  his  two  friends,  the  good- 
natured  giant,  Georges  Perin,  and  Paul  Menard- 
Dorian,  charming  in  his  affability.  These  two  men 
honored  my  youth  with  their  affection  for  me.  The 
former  is  a  fencer  to  be  feared  on  the  tribune  as 
well  as  on  the  duelling-ground.  The  latter  is  a 
peaceful,  prudent,  business  man.  How  often  they 
were  seen  walking  along,  philosophizing,  talking  of 
literature  and  art  which  they  loved,  toward  the 
home  of  the  adversary !  M.  Clemenceau's  sensitive- 
ness, which  became  well  known,  assured  him  full 
freedom  of  discussion  even  in  the  worst  attacks. 

About  the  same  time  M.  Clemenceau,  never 
neglecting  any  means  of  influencing  public  opinion, 
founded  his  famous  newspaper,  La  Justice.  Could 
he  have  chosen  a  name  more  expressive  of  him? 
He  entrusted  the  editing  to  his  colleague  of  the 
extreme-left,  Camille  Pelletan,  a  talented  journalist, 
who  excelled  in  treating  the  most  difficult  subjects 
in  a  witty  and  brilliant  manner. 

Clemenceau  was  the  inspiration  of  his  newspaper, 
he  directed  its  policy  effectively,  came  every  eve- 
ning to  work  over  the  edition  and  to  discuss  the  ideas 

33 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


of  his  collaborators  without  ever,  in  his  respect  for 
the  opinions  of  others,  imposing  his  own  ideas  upon 
them. 

However,  he  wrote  very  little.  At  long  intervals, 
according  to  the  exigencies  of  parliamentary  life,  he 
dashed  off  a  few  concise,  logical  and  authoritative 
lines,  which  were  rarely  signed  by  his  initials,  al- 
most never  by  his  name,  but  which  bore  his  stamp. 
He  was  recognized. 

Yet  M.  Clemenceau  had  been  a  journalist.  He 
sent  articles  to  the  Temps  from  America ;  and  when 
he  returned  to  France  he  had  collaborated  somewhat 
on  certain  papers.  But  then  his  political  policies 
consumed  all  his  time.  Leaving  to  his  co-editors 
the  comments  from  day  to  day,  he  reserved  for  him- 
self the  resounding  exposures  from  the  tribune 
which  had  the  value  of  calls  to  action. 

He  brought  together  for  the  editing  of  this  paper 
young  men  who  had  talent  and  a  future,  Alexandre 
Millerand,  Stephen  Pichon,  Georges  Languerre. 
The  latter  withdrew  very  suddenly  after  a  short 
time.  The  journal  bore  the  stamp  of  Clemenceau's 
personality  in  other  respects  besides  the  political. 
Contrary  to  so  many  parliamentarians  who  despise 

34 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


literature  and  art,  while  rendering  them  a  purely 
formal  homage,  and  who  ill-treat  them  in  general 
in  their  partisan  sheets,  Clemenceau,  a  man  of  broad 
culture,  brought  up  by  a  father  who  was  a  phil- 
osopher, a  scholar  and  an  artist,  gave  literature  and 
art  the  important  place  which  they  deserve  every- 
where. 

He  had  only  to  recall  the  role  they  played  in  his 
own  education  to  realize  that  he  had  no  right  to 
deprive  his  readers  of  them.  Extremely  attentive 
to  all  the  manifestations  of  the  mind,  he  perceived 
their  correlations.  He  hated  walls  which  narrow 
the  field  of  the  intelligence.  In  order  to  understand 
the  reciprocal  action  of  politics  and  literature,  he 
had  no  need  of  the  caprice  of  an  election  to  make 
him  live  a  most  zealous  literary  life  and  to  make 
him  turn  to  action  through  ideas. 

From  this  time  on,  an  acclaimed  orator,  leader 
of  a  great  party  inflamed  by  political  struggles,  he 
honors  art  and  literature  along  with  science.  He 
knows  their  influence  on  the  intellectual  develop- 
ment of  a  people.  He  knows  what  books,  pictures, 
statues  are  worth  as  an  expression  of  its  feelings 
and  of  its  state  of  mind.  Therefore  he  wants  his 

35 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


readers  to  be  informed  in  regard  to  all  the  works 
of  the  human  mind. 

As  long  as  La  Justice  lived,  this  combative  polit- 
ical journal  was  one  of  the  most  literary  of  the 
period.  Avoiding  the  usual  contradiction  of  the  ad- 
vanced sheets  which,  not  long  ago,  defended  almost 
always  the  most  retrograde  forms  of  literature  and 
art,  Clemenceau's  journal  upheld  an  art  of  intelli- 
gence and  of  truth,  a  literature  which  was  alive, 
human,  social,  all  trembling  with  the  poetry  of  real- 
ity, turned  toward  the  future,  unquestionably  in  har- 
mony with  the  political  tendencies  of  the  publisher. 
This  was  done  by  the  vibrating,  colorful  talent  of 
Gustaye  Geffroy,  "the  Just  Man  of  Justice,"  ac- 
cording to  the  title  with  which  he  was  hailed  as  the 
Prince  of  Letters  by  Barbey  d'Aurevilly. 

Between  a  leading  editorial  by  Camille  Pelletan, 
of  Millerand  or  of  Stephen  Pichon  and  the  amusing 
political  news  of  Edouard  Durranc,  a  smiling 
philosopher  to  whom  we  owe  the  famous  caption, 
revived  later  by  the  artist  Forain,  "How  fine  the 
Republic  was  during  the  Empire,"  Gustave  Gef- 
froy wrote  with  the  most  delicate  feeling  and  the 
finest  taste  of  the  works  of  Claude  Monet  and  of 

36 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


Rodin,  of  Camilla  Pissarro  and  of  Renoir,  of  J.-F. 
Raffaelli  and  of  Cheret,  of  Eugene  Carriere  and  of 
Toulouse-Lautrec.  In  his  weekly  literary  review, 
if  not  in  his  almost  daily  stories,  he  studied  ardently 
the  books  of  Edmond  de  Goncourt,  Zola,  Alphonse 
Daudet,  Barbey  d'Aurevilly,  Villiers  de  I'lsle-Adam, 
Rosny,  Mirbeau,  Huysmans,  etc.,  and  later,  the 
dramatists  of  the  Theatre-Libre,  the  poems  of  the 
Parnasians,  of  Paul  Verlaine,  later  those  of  Albert 
Samain,  and  of  all  the  fine  writers  of  the  new  gen- 
eration. Never  were  readers  better  informed  on 
the  art  and  literature  of  their  time  than  were  those 
of  this  political  journal. 

Clemenceau  was  delighted  and  allowed  him  to 
continue.  Never  was  a  critic  freer  under  a  more 
broad-minded  and  liberal  patron.  Finding  the  time 
to  look  at  these  pictures,  to  read  and  love  these 
books  of  an  art  so  modern,  he  would  have  been 
careful  to  dispute  the  opinions  of  his  critic  even  if 
they  had  differed  from  his  own.  But  what  satis- 
faction he  felt  to  see  his  critic  exalt  an  art  and  a 
literature  of  intelligence,  of  life,  of  truth,  of  gener- 
ous social  tendencies,  in  conformity  with  his  own 
taste !  This  is  a  distinguishing  characteristic  of  the 

37 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


journal,  which  it  is  necessary  to  bring  to  light,  be- 
cause it  establishes  an  essential  trait  in  Clemenceau's 
character. 

La  Justice  had  a  charming  atmosphere  of  com- 
radeship about  it,  with  its  picturesque  decoration  of 
drawings,  made  by  the  editors  themselves,  repre- 
senting the  collaborators  of  the  journal,  with 
Clemenceau  at  the  top  and  his  crew  of  friendly 
writers  below  him,  Louis  Mullem,  Jean  Ajalbert, 
Charles  Martel,  Leon  Millot,  etc.,  men  who  were 
faithful  to  the  journal  through  friendship.  The 
journal  was  well  edited  but  little  read;  and,  begin- 
ning with  its  directors,  it  enriched  no  one. 

The  office  of  the  "boss"  in  a  corner  of  the  edi- 
torial room  was  far  from  solemn  and  was  easily 
accessible.  What  interesting  discussions  on  books, 
art  and  men  took  place  around  Gustave  Geffroy's 
table,  on  a  corner  of  which  in  order  to  talk  more 
at  ease  sat  Clemenceau,  jovial  and  bantering,  and 
suddenly  launching  into  a  discussion  of  ideas. 
Sometimes  there  were  talks  on  politics  in  which 
such  men  took  part  as  came  and  went  on  business, 
Eugene  Carriere,  Stephen  Pichon,  and  J.-F.  Raf- 
faelli,  Lucien  Descaves,  Paul  Bonnetain,  and  many 

38 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


younger  men  who  brought  to  these  discussions  the 
fire  of  their  curiosity  and  the  love  for  literature. 

It  was  about  1881  that  the  patriotism  of  Clemen- 
ceau,  disapproving  the  dispersion  of  our  military 
forces  for  the  sake  of  colonial  conquests,  came  into 
collision  with  the  patriotism  of  other  leaders  of  the 
Republic,  who,  without  renouncing  any  of  our 
hopes,  thought  to  arm  us  better  against  German 
aggression  by  gaining  territory,  wealth,  and  soldiers 
recruited  among  the  native  warriors,  and  by  giving 
us  back  faith  in  ourselves,  through  military  glory. 
At  that  time  a  German  aggression  did  not  seem 
probable  and  moreover  did  not  come  to  pass  during 
these  years  of  expansion  over-seas. 

This  divergence  of  views  in  regard  to  the  suc- 
cessive expeditions  to  Tunis,  Tonkin,  Madagascar, 
Dahomey  and  Soudan,  was  prolonged  for  a  long 
time.  The  divergence  was  just  so  much  more  sharp 
because  it  was  a  question  of  the  future  of  the 
country. 

In  the  two  camps  there  was  an  equal  desire  for 
public  welfare  and  a  care  for  the  interests  of 
France:  but  they  were  two  opposite  conceptions 

39 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


which,  in  the  heat  of  battle,  appeared  to  be  abso- 
lutely antagonistic  and  incapable  of  being  brought 
into  agreement. 

Clemenceau's  view  had  numerous  determined 
partisans  on  the  Right  as  well  as  on  the  Left.  There 
were  those  who,  before  every  other  consideration, 
wanted  us  to  be  on  guard  against  a  German  attack, 
which  was  always  possible,  and  who  refused  to 
allow  our  defenses  to  be  weakened  even  momen- 
tarily. There  were  also  those  who,  in  their  desire 
for  a  generous  and  peaceful  socialistic  policy,  pre- 
ferred to  devote  all  their  strength  to  the  ameliora- 
tion of  the  lot  of  men.  The  deputy  of  the  artisans 
of  Montmartre,  desirous  of  making  life  less  hard 
for  the  people,  belonged,  of  course,  to  the  latter 
class.  But,  beyond  this,  he  had  borne  with  a  bleed- 
ing heart  the  tortures,  the  sufferings,  the  humilia- 
tions of  war.  He  was  apprehensive  of  our  reha- 
bilitation which  was  too  rapid  to  suit  him.  He  had 
only  to  recall  the  alarm  of  1875,  so  vivid  still,  when 
we  had  been  saved  from  irremediable  disaster  only 
by  the  veto  of  Great  Britain  and  Russia;  and  he 
understood  at  last  that  the  unbroken  power  of 

40 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


France  is  necessary  to  maintain  the  equilibrium  of 
the  world. 

Well  informed  in  regard  to  the  state  of  mind  of 
the  new  Germany,  which  already  regretted  not  hav- 
ing bled  us  more,  and  to  the  insatiable  greed  for 
power  developed  by  her  success,  from  that  moment 
he  took  into  consideration  the  fact  that,  sooner  or 
later,  her  mad  idea  of  world-dominion  would  prove 
a  peril  against  which  we  would  have  to  hold  our- 
selves in  constant  readiness. 

Finally,  because  of  his  old  friends  in  the  unhappy, 
annexed  territory  of  Alsace-Lorraine,  he  became 
one  of  those  who,  finding  everywhere  the  love  of 
French  civilization  and  the  vivid  memory  of  France, 
believed  that  the  peace  which  seemed  to  sanction 
such  a  revolting  oppression  of  peoples,  was  pre- 
carious. So  while  we  were  exerting  ourselves  in 
the  tasks  of  peace,  he  wished  us  to  stand  on  the 
frontier  with  grounded  arms  that  we  might  be  born 
again  and  grow  strong. 

The  workers  for  the  policy  of  expansion  had  in 
their  hearts  the  same  memories,  the  same  prudence 
and  watchfulness  for  the  future;  but,  reassured  in 
regard  to  the  danger  of  an  immediate  aggression, 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


they  thought  that,  without  compromising  our  de- 
fense and  even  by  acquiring  means  to  strengthen  it 
later,  it  was  their  duty  to  profit  by  favorable  cir- 
cumstances to  increase  the  national  wealth. 

With  all  the  means  for  prompt  and  decisive  ac- 
tion, the  more  quickly  they  acted,  the  sooner  we 
would  be  assembled  again,  with  increased  strength 
to  guard  the  Vosges. 

Unfortunately  the  lack  of  harmony  in  regard  to 
this  policy  had  no  other  result  than  to  show  up  our 
effort  by  not  supporting  such  a  project  with  suffi- 
cient resources. 

Now  that  the  conquest  of  an  immense  colonial 
domain  has  become  a  happy  fact  of  history,  can  we 
not  render  justice  to  the  clear-sighted,  bold  states- 
men who,  before  the  rivalries  of  the  last  ten  years, 
gave  to  France  this  increase  of  power;  and,  on  the 
other  hand,  can  we  not  also  recognize  that  the  fears 
of  more  circumspect  people,  were  very  natural  at 
that  moment? 

It  is  certainly  easier  to  be  just  in  serene  history 
than  during  the  irritation  of  political  battles.  At 
any  rate,  even  those  who  were  not  convinced 
through  Clemenceau's  arguments  and  who  regretted 

42 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


his  opposition,  were  glad  to  acknowledge  the  lofti- 
ness of  his  views,  his  constant  care  for  the  interests 
of  France,  the  sober  eloquence  of  his  incisive  and 
vigorous  speeches. 

His  speeches  of  the  year  1885  throughout  the 
whole  of  France  dealt  with  the  hastening  of  demo- 
cratic reforms  and  the  necessity  of  a  vigilant  guard 
at  the  frontier  without  any  scattering  of  strength. 
They  were  echoed  everywhere  and  wherever  they 
were  made  they  remained  famous. 

In  spite  of  the  thirty-three  years  which  have 
passed  since  the  speeches  were  made,  in  the 
provinces  his  auditors  still  speak  of  them  as  the 
most  striking  memory  of  their  lives.  It  makes  little 
difference  whether  his  listeners  were  hostile  or 
friendly  now;  for  to-day  they  have  rallied  to  his 
splendid  effort  for  national  deliverance. 

Famous  for  the  stubbornness  and  the  vigor  of  his 
opposition,  for  his  incisive  eloquence  and  brilliant 
argument,  admired  by  some,  execrated  by  others, 
indifferent  to  none,  he  was  the  leader  of  a  great 
party  for  whose  triumph  he  traveled  over  France 
on  the  eve  of  elections.  During  several  months  he 
spoke  from  city  to  city,  welcomed  by  many  as  a 

43 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


hope,  less  warmly  by  those  who  reproached  him  for 
his  inexorable  criticism,  but  who  gave  to  his  talent 
the  homage  of  curiosity. 

He  was  then  full  of  the  strength  of  his  young 
maturity. 

When  he  had  descended  from  the  tribune  and 
was  waiting  for  the  train,  Clemenceau,  his  force 
and  liveliness  unaltered  by  age,  charmed  every  one 
by  his  simplicity,  his  animation  and  by  the  loftiness 
of  some  idea  suddenly  thrust  in  between  two  jokes. 
Only  the  sullen  and  morose  whom  he  disconcerted 
failed  to  be  touched  by  the  charm  of  his  personality. 

Twice  during  my  youth  I  was  the  witness  of  the 
strong  impression  produced  by  the  orator  and  man, 
in  his  famous  "swing  around  the  circle."  Moreover, 
having  had  occasion  several  times  to  verify  the 
lasting  impression  which  it  left  on  the  minds  of 
those  who  heard  him,  I  felt  I  ought  to  record  in' 
the  biography  of  Clemenceau  the  great  power  of 
this  propaganda  and  the  picture  which  he  left  in 
the  memory  of  the  town  and  country  people,  who 
came  to  hear  him  in  the  neighboring  city. 

The  uneasiness  resulting  from  the  confusion  and 
scandal  of  these  uncertain  elections,  so  painful  to 

44 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


the  honesty  of  the  French  people,  was  not  long  in 
producing  the  Boulangist  outbreak. 

Clemenceau,  who  was  in  sympathy  with  General 
Boulanger  as  long  as  he  believed  him  to  be  a  patri- 
otic reformer,  thinking  only  of  the  great  task  of 
rehabilitation,  was  naturally  in  the  front  ranks  of 
those  who  wanted  to  save  France  from  an  unfor- 
tunate venture. 

It  was  a  long  and  hard  battle  during  which  many 
blows  were  exchanged.  One  cannot  throw  himself 
with  impunity,  as  a  leader,  into  the  midst  of  a  fight. 
Long  after  the  order,  "Cease  firing!"  the  dis- 
appointed and  the  vanquished  were  watching  for 
revenge.  This  is  too  human  a  feeling  not  to  be 
understood. 

Clemenceau,  who  for  twenty  years  had  not  been 
sparing  of  his  blows,  was  particularly  exposed  to 
reprisals;  but  the  danger  of  brawls  did  not  trouble 
him.  On  the  contrary,  with  renewed  vigor,  he  kept 
up  the  battle  for  his  unchangeable  ideas,  for  the  vic- 
tory of  his  political  methods,  and  for  the  means  to 
defend  France. 

But  in  the  exasperation  of  political  hatred  and  in 
the  violence  of  hand  to  hand  struggles,  one  is  rarely 

45 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


fastidious  about  the  means  employed.  How  many 
men,  even  among  the  best,  fail  to  retain  at  certain 
moments,  their  coolness,  their  critical  sense,  and 
their  feeling  for  moderation. 

The  most  unjust  attacks  were  hurled  against 
Clemenceau.  The  most  fantastic  accusations  were 
thrown  in  his  face.  In  order  to  recognize  their 
utter  falseness,  it  would  have  sufficed  to  examine 
with  calm,  good  sense  the  public  and  private  life 
of  Clemenceau,  the  constant  lack  of  means  in  which 
his  journal  existed  in  spite  of  the  kindly  devotion 
of  rich  friends,  and  of  his  companions  in  the  fray, 
ready  to  serve  their  cause  and  their  chief. 

As  proofs  were  necessary  to  dupe  the  honest  peo- 
ple who  were  aroused  and  credulous  and  who,  with 
the  idea  of  serving  the  country,  led  the  assault, 
needy  rascals  manufactured  them.  A  storm  of 
forged  documents  appeared.  At  first  they  circu- 
lated surreptitiously,  but  as  soon  as  they  fluttered  in 
the  wind  of  battle,  their  gross  and  clownish  fraud 
appeared.  Or  the  tribune  of  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies,  Clemenceau,  pushing  aside  these  trumpery 
accusations,  had  only  to  cite  indisputable  facts  to 

46 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


do  justice  to  them.  From  that  moment  not  one  of 
them  could  stand. 

The  forgers  were  dragged  by  the  Minister  of 
Public  Affairs  to  the  Court  of  Assizes,  where 
Clemenceau  came  as  a  witness  to  defend  the  truth. 
With  what  serene  pride  he  showed  the  folly  of  this 
venture!  But  in  the  violence  of  political  struggles 
it  is  not  enough  to  crush  so-called  proofs.  The 
popular  mind  holds  the  impression  for  a  long  time. 

Thus,  while  his  loyal  adversaries,  who  had  been 
duped  by  this  fraudulent  stuff,  were  grieving  over 
their  mistake,  others  were  bent  upon  perfidious  in- 
sinuations. 

Did  Clemenceau's  patriotism  have  any  other  rea- 
son than  his  concern  in  his  desire  for  cordial  rela- 
tions with  England  for  our  national  interest?  Does 
not  the  history  of  the  last  fifteen  years  prove  the 
beneficence  of  this  idea? 

When  one  examines  facts,  people  and  things, 
against  the  background  of  time,  how  plainly  it 
appears  that  this  idea  is  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  whole  political  policy  of  Clemenceau,  who  was 
always  restless  in  regard  to  the  aggressive  whims 
of  Germany  and  anxious  to  have  more  guarantees 

47 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


against  her.  One  wonders  through  what  strange 
aberration,  even  thirty  years  ago,  many  people  did 
not  see  that  the  policy  of  Clemenceau  was  not  only 
logical  but  necessary  because  it  was  in  perfect  ac- 
cord with  his  parliamentary  life.  The  general 
elections  of  1893  were  at  hand.  They  were  held  in 
the  confusion  of  this  outbreak.  Public  opinion  did 
not  have  time  to  get  possession  of  itself,  to  judge 
calmly.  In  1889  Clemenceau,  whose  name  appeared 
on  the  list  of  voters  of  the  district  of  Var  and 
Seine,  had  chosen  to  vote  in  this  department  where 
many  a  time  the  people  had  appealed  to  him;  but 
the  voters  of  Var  cast  their  votes  haunted  by  the 
calumnies  daily  repeated  to  them. 

Clemenceau  was  beaten  in  spite  of  an  admirable 
campaign  of  energy  and  clearness,  in  spite  of  his 
famous  speech  at  Saberne,  a  model  of  proud  elo- 
quence, the  cry  of  a  man  who  bares  his  whole  life 
before  his  adversaries  and,  forgetting  himself, 
speaks  with  loftiness  and  heat 

The  people  believed  that  he  was  beaten,  and  were 
eager  to  stamp  upon  him  with  impunity.  What 
means  of  action,  henceforth,  had  this  deputy,  with- 
out office  or  tribune,  whose  influence  had  been  in 

48 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


his  words,  and  in  his  power  over  the  representa- 
tives of  the  Nation? 

His  journal,  with  its  small  circulation,  retained 
its  influence  only  because  of  the  political  situation 
of  its  director.  How  would  he  himself  live,  without 
fortune  and  without  business  ?  Would  not  his  talent 
be  exhausted  by  this  necessary  struggle?  And  in 
what  way  could  it  show  itself?  Outside  of  those 
who  think  of  their  country  and  deplore  its  wrongs, 
what  joy  there  was  among  men  freed  from  the 
sound  of  that  sharp  voice,  from  the  fear  of  that 
keen  and  pitiless  criticism! 

As  accustomed  as  they  were  to  the  mental  power 
of  Clemenceau  and  to  the  resources  of  his  intel- 
lectual activity,  no  one  suspected  his  secret  strength. 
Perhaps  he  knew  nothing  of  it  himself.  In  his  early 
youth  he  had  been  a  journalist  but  only  for  a  few 
months.  For  twenty-five  years  he  had  written  al- 
most nothing;  and  yet,  since  this  was  his  only 
means  for  influence  during  the  period  when  he 
was  discredited,  he  began  resolutely  to  write. 

With  a  serenity  which  astounded  his  enemies,  he 
shut  himself  up  among  his  books.  In  plunging  into 

49 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


work,  he  tasted  the  joys  of  the  author,  the  pleasure 
of  absolute  independence.  Each  morning  in  La 
Justice  he  gave  his  opinion  on  men  and  the  ideas 
of  the  day. 

His  voice,  far  from  being  stifled,  rang  out.  It 
was  quickly  recognized  that,  with  his  pen  in  hand, 
Clemenceau  retained  all  the  brilliant  gifts  of  his 
logic  and  irony,  which  had  made  his  spoken  words 
feared  before. 

There  was  one  unfortunate  circumstance.  For- 
merly he  only  mounted  to  the  tribune  at  long  inter- 
vals. Now  he  spoke  every  day.  As  a  man  bent 
on  realizing  his  dream,  through  the  medium  of  the 
slightest  event  in  the  street,  in  the  Chamber  of 
Deputies  or  in  the  world,  he  championed  his  ideal. 
And  with  what  powerful  sarcasm  he  handled  those 
whom  he  believed  guilty  of  desertion  or  negligence! 

No  longer  constrained  by  the  limitations  of  his 
audience,  he  clearly  expressed  the  most  subtle  and 
delicate  shades  of  his  thought.  He  rises  to  views 
which,  in  the  fencing  on  the  tribune,  are  scarcely 
possible;  for  the  orator  must  be  understood  by  all 
at  once.  His  articles,  substantial,  full  of  life  and 

50 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


of  a  lofty  philosophy,  made  a  deep  impression. 
They  are  successful. 

History  furnishes  many  examples  of  writers 
who  become  distinguished  in  political  life  and  make 
a  brilliant  career.  Is  it  not  the  first  time,  in  France 
at  least,  that  a  statesman  late  in  life  has  begun  a 
brilliant  literary  career? 

Our  newspapers  contended  with  each  other  for 
his  aid.  La  Depeche  of  Toulouse  and,  a  little  later, 
the  Journal,  sought  him.  Every  week  he  wrote 
striking  articles  for  them,  but  he  did  not  give  up  his 
old  Justice,  which  he  had  founded  with  such  high 
hope  and  for  which  he  took  such  pleasure  in  writ- 
ing. He  published  not  only  his  reflections  on 
current  events,  but  also  stories,  touching  and  pic- 
turesque, images  of  life,  his  impressions  of  the 
work  of  profoundly  human  artists  who  interested 
him.  Impressed  by  the  life  which  characterized  his 
page,  Illustration  asked  him  for  a  novel.  He  wrote 
Les  plus  forts  (The  Strongest),  a  book  full  of  pity 
for  the  inevitable  destruction  of  the  weak.  He 
points  out  the  sole  remedy :  social  solidarity,  justice. 

A  few  months  after  this  brilliant  revelation  of  an 
"old  beginner,"  as  he  called  himself  when  he  be- 

51 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


came  Premier  at  sixty-six,  his  originality  and  his 
importance  as  a  writer  were  so  well  established  that 
the  friends  of  Edmond  de  Goncourt  invited  him  to 
speak  at  the  great  banquet  which  the  French  lit- 
erary world  gave  to  honor  the  work  and  life  of  this 
great  artist. 

The  politician  showed  himself  that  evening,  as 
on  other  occasions,  a  scholarly  speaker  of  profound 
thought,  of  fine  and  unerring  taste. 

Speaking  of  profoundly  human  literature,  of  the 
truth  in  the  study  of  manners  and  history,  rendering 
homage  to  the  love  of  truth  which  characterized 
the  author  of  Marie  Antoinette  and  Germinie 
Lacerteux,  he  was  applauded  by  the  thousand  writ- 
ers assembled  at  the  Grand  Hotel.  This  acclama- 
tion avenged  him  for  the  violent  attacks  of  a  short 
time  before,  and  convinced  him  that  his  talent  had 
won  him  the  right  to  be  cited  in  the  first  rank  of  the 
literary  world. 

While  carrying  on  his  work  as  a  writer,  he  did 
not  cease  to  be  himself  and  to  defend  the  ideas  of 
which  he  had  been  the  apostle,  which  education  had 
given  him  and  which  study,  reflection  and  the 
knowledge  of  men  and  history  had  strengthened. 

52 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


These  ideas  were,  love  for  his  country,  passion  for 
Justice  and  Liberty,  a  lofty  democratic  ideal  which 
is  not  lost  in  the  clouds,  but  resists  an  empiricism, 
faithless  and  without  audacity.  As  a  writer,  Cle- 
menceau  had  only  continued  his  effort  as  a  states- 
man. 

His  old  electors  of  Var  were  not  deceived. 
Regretting  the  injustice  they  had  done  him,  they 
seized  the  first  opportunity  for  reparation  to  the 
man  who,  with  different  weapons,  always  fought 
the  same  fight.  In  a  spontaneous  outburst  wnich 
effaced  all  memory  of  their  former  unfaithfulness, 
they  offered  to  elect  him  again  at  a  partial  election. 

They  could  better  understand  what  a  representa- 
tive they  had  lost  when  they  saw  with  what  dignity, 
with  what  joy  at  being  free,  and  of  having  no  need 
of  office  to  serve  the  cause  of  mankind,  Clemenceau, 
although  thankful  to  them,  claimed  his  right  of 
absolute  independence. 

It  is  a  wonderful  letter,  which,  like  the  famous 
speech  at  Saberne,  I  have  kept  with  care,  because 
it  reveals  his  character.  It  reads  as  follows : 

53 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


"My  dear  friend: — 

"I  am  deeply  touched  by  the  kind  letter  in  which  you 
offer  me  the  candidacy  at  the  legislative  elections.  It  is 
a  joy  to  me  to  see  in  you  one  of  those  who,  four 
years  ago,  fought  me  with  the  greatest  ardor.  Our  past 
defeat  is  nothing  but  an  incident  in  the  universal  struggle 
of  the  weak  against  the  strong.  I  scarcely  remember  that 
I  was  concerned. 

"Since  the  age  of  manhood,  my  heart  has  been  with 
those  conquered  by  destiny  and  I  proudly  bear  witness 
that  I  have  always  served  them  without  faltering.  I  have 
done  all  I  could  for  them,  even  beyond  my  means,  because 
I  am  not  yet  free  of  the  burdens  too  easily  accepted  for 
the  advantage  of  our  cause. 

"In  the  cruel  struggles  which  develop  so  much  hatred 
on  the  side  of  the  powers  that  are  threatened,  I  have  con- 
quered many  powerful  enmities,  which  I  am  proud  to  say 
were  merited. 

"Their  coalition  deprived  me  of  the  legislative  office 
which  I  would  not  have  renounced  of  my  own  accord. 

"Shall  I  admit  it  to  you  ?  A  free  lion,  I  have  found  my 
liberty  precious.  Parliamentary  action  must  have,  with  the 
electors  as  well  as  the  elected,  a  daily  collaboration  which 
cannot  exist  without  some  sacrifice  of  independence. 

"To-day  I  have  the  right  to  differ  in  opinion  even  with 
you,  my  dear  friends,  if  I  believe  that  you  are  mistaken. 
Leave  me  this  liberty  of  will  and  of  deed.  I  shall  only 

54 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


employ  it  to  try  each  day,  to  show  myself  worthy  of  your 
votes  in  the  past.  It  will  not  be  difficult  for  you  to  choose 
among  yourselves  the  man  who  can  take  up  in  Parliament 
of  the  Republic  our  program  of  action  for  the  freedom  of 
the  mind  against  oppression  of  dogma,  for  social  justice 
against  iniquity. 

"And  when  it  is  heard  that  I  have  nothing  to  ask  of 
you,  nothing  but  friendly  encouragements  for  the  profit  of 
the  common  cause,  then  I  shall  return  among  you.  We 
will  take  up  our  conversations  of  former  times,  and  we 
will  rejoice  in  the  beautiful  Republic  in  our  hearts,  of 
which  I  hope  our  children  will  soon  wish  to  try  the  same 
experiment. 

"My  dear  friends,  I  remain  at  your  sides  in  the  good 
fight.  My  thoughts,  my  acts  will  be  always  for  more  jus- 
tice, always  for  more  liberty. 

"G.  CLEMENCEAU." 

Several  years  pass.  Clemenceau,  in  full  control 
of  his  literary  activity,  exercises  a  great  political 
influence  through  the  means  he  has  at  hand.  Parlia- 
ment takes  notice  of  the  power  he  has  over  public 
opinion  and  cannot  be  insensible  to  the  pricks  of  his 
spur. 

In  1898  an  important  new  journal  is  founded : 
L'Aurore.  What  memories  of  terrible  torment  the 

55 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


name  alone  recalls !  Ernest  Vaughan,  the  director, 
who  had  been  carrying  on  Henri  Rochefort's 
Journal,  asked  Clemenceau  to  write  the  leader  every 
day,  with  absolute  freedom  to  express  his  views. 

Here  is  a  new  and  well  manned  ship,  on  which 
Clemenceau  feels  that  he  can  fight  more  effectively 
than  on  the  old  boat,  Justice,  which  is  a  bit  disabled. 
He  transports  his  munitions  from  one  ship  to  the 
other.  He  is  convinced  that,  here  as  elsewhere,  he 
will  have  only  to  continue  his  struggle  for  the  better 
utilization  of  our  national  strength  for  Liberty,  for 
the  rights  of  the  weak,  to  gain  the  realization  of  his 
democratic  ideal. 

Moreover,  the  state  of  mind  of  the  political 
parties  has  not  changed.  It  is  the  same  atmosphere, 
the  same  battle.  One  scarcely  speaks  in  political 
circles  of  a  pamphlet  in  which  a  writer  insinuates, 
with  sketchy  arguments,  that  Captain  Alfred  Drey- 
fus of  the  General  Staff,  recently  condemned  for 
treason,  was  not  judged  according  to  the  rules  of 
our  law.  This  apostle  of  the  Symbolistic  School, 
transformed  into  the  champion  of  justice,  known 
for  the  bitterness  of  his  criticism  and  for  his  inter- 
esting history  of  the  Jews,  is  named  Bernard  La- 

56 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


zare.     Obstinate,  combative,  he  carries  conviction 
to  certain  numbers  of  our  contemporaries. 

Clemenceau  sees,  with  some  indifference,  or 
rather  with  a  certain  antipathy,  this  little  agitation 
which,  if  it  really  amounts  to  anything,  can  only 
distract  France  from  the  important  problems  of 
her  destiny. 

As  a  patriot  who  has  faith  in  the  conscience  and 
clear-sightedness  of  the  chiefs  of  the  army,  he  be-1 
lieves  that,  since  an  officer  has  been  condemned  by 
his  peers,  it  must  be  that  his  crime  was  well  proved 
according  to  the  laws  of  justice. 

This  story,  therefore,  does  not  interest  him  and 
even  irritates  him  a  little.  He  is  not  far  from  being 
angry  at  the  writer  who  dares  to  play  the  role  of 
Voltaire. 

The  day  when  he  agreed  with  Vaughan  to  write 
the  daily  leaders  in  L'Aurore,  after  having  obtained 
all  guarantees  for  his  personal  liberty  and  for  the 
political  orientation  of  the  journal — and  this  was 
the  essential  point  to  him — he  had  the  curiosity  to 
ask  M.  Vaughan  who  the  other  collaborators  would 
be.  Different  names  were  cited  to  him,  among 
which  was  the  name,  Bernard  Lazare. 

57 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


"I  hope,"  Clemenceau  cut  in  jovially,  "that  he  is 
not  going  to  bother  us  with  his  Dreyfus  story." 

That  is  exactly  where  he  stood  at  the  beginning 
of  the  "affair."  I  only  speak  of  it  to  give  a  new 
proof  of  his  liberty  of  mind  and  his  independence. 

Since  this  was  a  question  of  confidence,  the  loyal 
patriots  and  disinterested  men  on  both  sides  had 
nothing  to  renounce  in  regard  to  their  opinions; 
and,  whatever  attitude  one  took  toward  this  drama, 
it  must  be  recognized  that  it  was  one  of  the  most 
painful  memories  of  French  life. 

Therefore,  it  should  be  considered  as  nothing 
more  than  history.  It  is  over.  A  new  era  has  be- 
gun upon  our  battle-fields,  in  the  communion  of 
sacrifice  and  suffering  in  city  and  village. 

It  is  a  sacred  era  because  of  the  blood  of  our  dead 
and  wounded.  So  much  the  worse  for  the  unfor- 
tunate ones  who,  weighed  down  with  distrust  and 
suspicion,  wish  to  hypnotize  themselves  instead  of 
rushing  forward  to  speed  the  effort  for  the  morrow. 
On  the  day  of  victorious  peace,  for  which  we  shall 
have  bled  and  suffered,  France  will  cry  to  us :  "For- 
ward!" 

In  this  state  of  mind  to  which  reason  and  patriot- 
58 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


ism  elevates  us,  how  easy  it  is,  without  hurting 
any  one's  conviction,  to  recall  the  role  of  Cle- 
menceau  in  this  tumultuous  chapter  of  our  history. 

The  former  adversaries  who  had  read  with  beat- 
ing hearts  his  wonderful  articles  in  1905  at  the 
time  of  the  German  menace  at  Tangiers,  and  later 
in  1912,  followed  his  persuasive  campaign  in  favor 
of  the  three  years'  law ;  those  who  had  not  forgotten 
his  proud  energy  in  1908,  at  the  critical  hour  when, 
as  Premier,  he  made  France  respected  even  in  re- 
gard to  the  deserters  of  Casablanca ;  those  who  saw 
what  this  aged  man  was  trying  to  spare  us;  can 
these  men  doubt  that  if  Clemenceau  fought  the 
revision  of  the  famous  trial,  it  was  because  he  was 
convinced  that  it  must  be  so  for  the  good  of  the 
country? 

It  is  the  finest  homage  that  their  gratitude  can 
render  him  to-day.  These  four  years  of  union  in 
peril  and  in  grief  make  easy  that  serene  justice 
which,  giving  life  to  our  strength,  alone  can  pro- 
long that  harmony  to  which  we  owe  our  safety. 

Could  this  lover  of  justice  and  troubled  patriot, 
whom  we  have  just  shown  at  work,  have  another 
attitude  from  the  moment  that  he  believed  that 

59 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Law  had  been  violated  and  the  rules  which  guard 
it  disregarded,  and  that  the  stubbornness  to 
acknowledge  the  mistake,  must  only  harm  the  moral 
prestige  and  strength  of  the  country? 

For  a  long  while,  at  a  time  when  others  were 
quickly  aroused,  he  remained  impassive.  Certainly, 
when  the  first  doubts  came  to  him,  careful  of  our 
national  defense,  he  hesitated  before  the  possible 
counter-blows  of  such  a  debate ;  but  could  he  suspect 
that  this  long  and  violent  debate  would  spread  from 
the  court  room  and  convulse  France?  His  heart 
had  always  acquired  new  strength  in  the  hope  and 
desire  for  a  more  watchful  guard  on  the  Vosges; 
and  it  was  due  to  Alsace  and  through  the  agency 
of  his  old  friend,  Scheurer-Kestner,  that  his  doubt 
grew  to  conviction.  From  that  moment  he  would 
have  believed  himself  a  renegade  if,  knowing  that 
he  had  justice  and  the  good  name-  of  his  country 
to  defend,  he  had  stolen  away. 

We  remember  the  bitter  and  keen  eloquence  with 
which  he  fought  for  three  years.  His  adversaries 
might  regret  it  but  they  could  not  fail  to  recognize 
it.  He  was  one  who  ennobled  the  tragedy  of  France 
by  the  loftiness  of  his  views.  And  what  sovereign 

60 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


logic  he  mingled  with  his  feelings!  In  this  discus- 
sion he  was  faithful  to  himself.  He  kept  on  his 
own  high  plane  by  the  power  of  his  reasoning,  by 
his  sudden  flights  above  the  minute  scrutinizing  of 
texts,  by  the  thrills  of  passion,  of  anger  and  of  hope, 
by  the  brilliancy  of  his  irony. 

Do  not  his  friends  and  enemies  also  agree  in 
declaring  that  even  in  the  most  passionate  days  of 
torment,  Clemenceau,  careful  to  wound  the  country 
as  little  as  possible,  was  always  able  to  avoid  unjust 
generalizations  and  useless  violence,  each  time  that 
he  saw  men  in  his  camp  allow  themselves  to  be 
carried  away  by  fury  toward  a  dangerous  anti- 
militarism  which  must  lead  the  weak  to  a  still  more 
foolish  and  dangerous  anti-patriotism,  cried:  "Be- 
ware!" Therefore,  having  nothing  of  this  kind 
with  which  to  reproach  himself,  he  had  later  the 
moral  power  which  was  necessary  to  combat  the 
spread  of  such  madness. 

Clemenceau  was  not  one  of  those  who  lingered 
by  the  last  ripples  of  the  agitation  with  the  secret 
thought  that  from  that  time  on  all  French  life 
would  be  conditioned;  but  he  did  consider  that 

61 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


parliamentary  action  would  supplement  his  effort 
as  a  writer  in  the  still  troubled  atmosphere  where 
certain  social  problems  would  become  urgent. 

From  the  department  of  Var,  which  constantly 
renewed  its  proofs  of  cordial  fidelity,  he  accepted  a 
senatorship. 

In  the  Luxembourg  Palace,  as  in  his  journals, 
Le  Bloc  and  L'Aurore,  from  which  he  was  relieved 
temporarily,  he  defended  his  unchanged  ideas  and 
the  work  of  the  Revolution.  He  did  not  conceal 
its  errors  and  mistakes.  He  regretted  its  crimes, 
but  he  refused  to  condemn  it  piece-meal.  He  only 
wished  to  see  the  whole  of  it,  which  in  his  eyes  was 
beneficent,  and  the  origin  of  a  new  world  where  the 
rights  of  men  are  safeguarded. ' 

"Plainly  the  Revolution  is  not  Sinai,"  one  could 
hear  him  say  sometimes.  "But  in  difficult  moments, 
that  is  what  one  must  fall  back  on." 

His  first  reappearance  on  the  tribune  showed 
that,  during  his  voluntarily  prolonged  absence,  he 
had  lost  none  of  his  sober  vigor,  his  jovial  caustic- 
ity, his  vigorous  logic.  But  one  perceived  also  that 
this  strong  bulwark  was  now  protected  by  ideas 
which  less  interrupted  meditation  and  long  com- 

62 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


munion  with  the  highest  minds  of  the  past  could 
bring  to  his  brain.  The  writer  which  he  has  be- 
come shines  through  the  orator  he  has  not  ceased 
to  be;  but  the  life  and  activity  with  which  he  is 
endowed  are  unaltered.  And  on  the  other  hand, 
since  his  reason  is  shown  in  brilliant  and  picturesque 
form  in  his  chats  with  his  colleagues  in  Parliament, 
he  is  more  and  more  listened  to. 

But  he  is  not  always  followed.  It  is  true  that 
with  characteristic  independence  he  does  not  hesi- 
tate to  ride  alone  in  the  opposite  direction  from  his 
party  when  he  believes  that  his  friends  are  getting 
dangerously  away  from  salutary  principles.  For 
example,  an  apostle  of  liberty,  for  his  adversaries 
as  well  as  for  himself,  he  does  not  permit  any  one 
to  tamper  with  liberty  no  matter  how  strong  the 
pretext  may  be.  Thus,  while  demanding  the  sep- 
aration of  church  and  state  and  the  dispersal  of 
the  religious  order,  he  defended  the  freedom  of 
teaching  in  the  parochial  schools  with  a  noble  re- 
spect for  what  goes  on  in  the  depths  of  the  con- 
science and  with  a  clear-sighted  skepticism  in  regard 
to  such  hindrances.  It  is  a  memorable  speech  in 
which,  without  caring  for  what  was  being  thought 

63 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


round  about  him,  he  fights  for  liberty  in  which  he 
has  faith,  just  as  formerly,  with  equal  contempt  for 
blame  or  blows,  he  had  fought  for  justice. 

To  resist  the  irritations,  the  anger  and  surprise 
which  one  calls  forth  in  every  camp,  and  to  keep 
one's  influence  intact,  one  must  rely  on  a  proud  will 
and  on  the  strength  of  great  talent.  Clemenceau, 
walking  ahead  without  regard  for  those  who  are 
with  him,  does  not  feel  the  need  of  singing  to  cheer 
himself  when  he  finds  himself  in  difficulty. 

One  of  his  friends  who  hoped  to  see  his  influence 
increased  for  the  sake  of  the  country,  expressed 
his  regret  to  him  that  he  did  not  allow  himself  to 
head  a  group  as  the  offer  had  been  made  so  often. 
We  heard  him  answer  with  conviction :  "You  do 
not  know  how  strong  one  is  when  he  is  alone." 

This  proud  reply  reveals  his  character. 

He  has  faith  only  in  energy  put  into  the  service 
of  reason. 

One  day,  twenty-five  years  ago,  an  acquaintance 
of  mine,  who  is  a  writer,  regretting  that  Cle- 
menceau was  not  in  Parliament,  told  him  of  his 
joy  in  the  power  he  had  obtained  through  litera- 
ture. The  future  Minister  of  National  Deliverance 

64 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


made  this  reply,  great  in  its  glad  confidence:  "As 
long  as  I  can  talk  and  write,  if  I  am  right,  I  feel 
that  I  am  unconquerable." 

Every  morning  in  L'Aurore,  Clemenceau  con- 
tinues to  exercise  that  free  and  individual  influence 
which  is  so  precious  to  him.  He  came  back  to  his 
journal  with  the  powers  of  direction;  and,  not  be- 
ing any  longer  able  to  curb  the  satisfaction  of  tell- 
ing his  opinion  of  the  men,  the  ideas  and  the  things 
of  his  time,  he  published  a  daily  article. 

He  thinks  and  writes  with  wonderful  independ- 
ence; but  he  feels  that  his  readers  are  with  him. 
They  increase,  when  William  II,  obedient  to  the 
injunctions  of  Pan-Germanism,  makes  his  theatrical 
visit  to  Tangiers,  humiliates  France  by  threats  and 
odious  demands  and  when  the  indignant  Clemenceau 
begins  the  most  patriotic  campaign  to  relieve  French 
hearts,  chafing  under  the  outrage. 

He  belongs  to  the  generation  of  those  who,  as 
men,  lived  through  the  defeat  and  invasion.  He 
suffered  from  it  until  he  wept  unwilling  tears.  He 
was  one  of  the  witnesses  and  one  of  the  helpers  in 
the  admirable  effort  which  France  made  in  order 

65 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


to  be  born  again.  Although  bruised,  she  has  put 
her  faith  in  the  triumph  of  justice  and  morality. 
Without  being  false  to  one  of  her  memories  or 
hopes,  she  has  remained  at  peace.  Has  she  not, 
therefore,  the  right  to  life,  to  her  free  development? 
Does  she  deserve  to  suffer  extortion  and  outrage 
again?  Clemenceau  does  not  allow  her  to  be 
treated  as  a  vassal.  Enough  of  such  extortions  at 
the  slightest  caprice!  Torn  as  she  is,  France  is 
not  so  weak  that  she  must  be  resigned.  Let  Ger- 
many know  our  resolution  never  to  allow  ourselves 
to  be  molested  any  more!  And  let  France,  with 
the  sentiment  of  her  strength  in  the  union  of  her 
sons,  speak  firmly  in  order  to  force  from  every  one 
respect  for  her  rights  and  dignity. 

Each  morning  during  the  anxiety  of  this  long 
crisis,  Clemenceau,  in  his  flaming  articles,  makes 
himself  the  interpreter  of  the  French  grief,  anger 
and  energy.  He  is  convinced  that  a  country  can- 
not become  resigned  to  certain  things.  He  thinks 
that  since  a  great  people  cannot  live  in  shame,  at 
certain  hours  it  is  better  to  risk  everything  than 
to  accept  all.  From  that  moment  France  has  the 
same  will.  He  feels.  He  speaks  just  so  much 

66 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


louder.  When  a  Nation  rises  up  under  an  insult, 
it  is  because  it  has  the  power  to  impose  its  right 
to  live. 

Then,  firm  without  provocation,  a  patriot  with- 
out boasting  or  violence,  with  what  grave  emotion, 
with  what  filial  piety  he  recalls  our  merits,  sets 
forth  our  claims,  and  shows  the  nobility  of  our 
patience  which,  however,  must  not  be  mistaken  for 
cowardice ! 

Manly  and  tender  articles  which  are  like  won- 
derful cries  of  love  and  pride!  Each  one  of  these 
calls  for  modesty,  for  justice,  for  good  manners, 
which  Germany  hears  is  like  a  sharp  command: 
"Halt!"  France,  whose  indignation  they  express 
so  well,  reads  them  with  beating  heart.  Already 
the  memories  of  struggles  is  effaced.  She  salutes 
in  M.  Clemenceau  one  of  her  standard  bearers! 

When  the  alarm  is  over,  public  opinion  sweeps 
him  into  power.  This  is  the  first  time  that  it  has 
been  offered  to  him  whatever  those  intended,  who 
reproached  this  "demolisher  of  Ministries"  with  his 
"perpetual  disappearing  acts."  He  is  sixty-five 
years  old.  Through  what  aberration  was  such  a 

67 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


power  left  unemployed  so  long,  which  would  have 
become  more  quickly  trained  by  struggling  with 
the  exigencies  and  responsibilities  of  the  govern- 
ment? He  accepts  it,  not  in  order  to  reign  but 
to  act.  Abandoning  his  pen  and  his  liberty  as  an 
orator,  he  renounces  a  power  more  brilliant  than 
the  one  in  which  he  is  installed  by  the  public  con- 
fidence. But  he  does  not  want  it  to  be  said,  and 
said  correctly,  that  he  is  deserting.  He  interprets 
government  according  to  the  principles  to  which  he 
has  been  faithful  all  his  life. 

Scarcely  is  he  appointed  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
when  a  solemn  occasion  offered  to  put  into  prac- 
tice one  of  his  most  constant  ideas.  A  strike  breaks 
out  in  the  mining  district.  Suddenly  it  develops  to 
a  fearful  extent.  Violence  is  feared.  They  tell 
him  that  it  will  be  wise  to  send  troops  as  usual  to 
prevent  disorder.  But  for  forty  years  in  the  tribune 
and  in  his  articles  he  has  been  protesting  against 
employing  soldiers  as  a  protective  measure  in 
strikes.  He  always  said  that  by  having  the  army 
appear  before  any  brawl  took  place  the  State  seemed 
to  take  sides  with  the  owner  against  the  workmen. 
What  will  he  do?  They  watch  him.  Moreover, 

68 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


the  outbreak  is  increasing  and  on  all  sides  they 
press  him  to  act  There  is  no  irreparable  damage 
done  yet,  or  else  he  would  have  done  his  duty,  which 
is  to  reestablish  order,  humanely  but  firmly.  But 
from  hour  to  hour  the  fear  that  violence  is  near 
grows. 

Then,  still  leaving  the  soldiers  in  their  barracks, 
the  Minister  of  the  Interior  goes,  all  alone,  to  the 
heart  of  the  strike.  Full  of  fire  and  with  hands 
outstretched  he  harangues  the  strikers.  Through 
yells  and  menacing  jestures,  still  alone,  he  plunges 
into  the  most  tumultuous  part  of  the  crowd.  The 
strikers  were  held  in  check  by  the  fearlessness  of 
this  old  man  who  gave  the  impression  of  vigorous 
youth,  by  the  boldness  of  this  republican  chief  who 
wanted  to  offer  to  democracy  a  supreme  proof  of 
his  confidence  in  it.  He  told  the  strikers  that  it 
depended  on  their  wisdom  alone  and  on  their  mod- 
eration in  the  exercise  of  their  rights  whether  they 
would  be  spared  the  presence  of  troops. 

They  listened  to  him.  They  allowed  him  to  de- 
part in  spite  of  a  plot,  which  was  revealed  to  him, 
but  which  did  not  restrain  him,  to  hold  him  as 
hostage.  Alas,  growing  more  and  more  excited 

69 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


from  hour  to  hour,  the  strikers  were  not  long  in. 
wronging  their  cause  by  indulging  in  brutality. 

Against  brutality  it  is  necessary  to  protect  lives, 
labor,  and  property.  With  a  heavy  heart,  Clemen- 
ceau  resigned  himself  to  calling  out  the  soldiers, 
but  with  order  for  patience  and  restraint.  Jostled, 
bruised,  they,  the  military,  remain  impassive  under 
the  missiles  with  which  they  are  bombarded. 
Rather  than  incur  the  blame  of  having  fired  without 
being  forced  to,  an  officer,  some  infantry  and  gen- 
darmes fall,  bleeding. 

Somewhere  else,  the  head  of  a  troop  telephones 
that  his  men  are  threatened  and  demands  for  them 
the  authority  to  use  their  arms.  Clemenceau,  far 
away  from  the  riot,  cannot  find  out  personally 
whether  the  order  which  is  asked  for  is  justified. 

It  is  a  moment  of  perplexity  and  anxiety.  Sorry 
for  the  workmen  he  thinks  less  of  the  soldiers,  who 
are  also  boys  of  France,  men  who  have  a  right  to 
live.  In  the  impossibility  of  judging  the  question 
himself,  he  replies  that  he  cannot  give  such  an 
order  from  a  distance;  and  that  the  captain  is  the 
sole  judge  of  the  situation,  since  he  alone  is  in  the 
riot ;  and  that  he  must  obey  instructions  authorizing 

70 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


the  use  of  arms  only  in  case  the  soldiers'  lives  are 
in  peril. 

This  fortunate  calmness  saved  all!  A  little  later 
this  chief,  who  had  been  left  free  in  his  judgment, 
announced  that  his  men  were  able  to  get  out  with- 
out firing  a  shot.  No  blood  had  flowed.  What 
would  have  been  the  result  of  a  second's  madness! 

Two  years  had  passed  since  he  became  Premier, 
while  retaining  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  when 
arrogant  Germany  tried  to  pick  a  quarrel  with  us 
over  the  deserters  of  Casablanca. 

This  was  a  perfidious  act  which  no  one  can  for- 
get because  it  shows  with  what  brutal  cunning  the 
Pan-Germanists  were  trying  to  force  us  into  war 
or  to  demoralize  us  by  giving  us,  through  repeated 
humiliations,  the  feeling  of  our  powerlessness.  For 
the  sake  of  their  projects  of  world-dominion  with 
which  they  were  intoxicated  they  wanted  us  either 
conquered  or  well  resigned  to  slavery  and  the  worst 
spoliation. 

Formerly  a  noisy  minority,  these  madmen  had 
finished  by  intoxicating,  with  their  wild  greed,  the 
whole  of  Germany.  Junkers  and  soldiers,  mad  with 

71 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


pride,  had  found  accomplices  for  their  unhealthy 
dreams  in  excited  professors,  in  big  business,  which 
was  hampered  and  insatiable,  in  commerce  crazy 
about  expansion,  among  the  least  important  pro- 
fessors and  teachers  zealous  for  this  propaganda 
for  rapine,  among  employees  and  workmen  avid 
for  bigger  pay. 

The  Crown  Prince  was  jealous  of  his  father  and 
impatient  to  supplant  him.  The  Pan-Germanists, 
by  making  the  rabbit-faced  young  man  gesticulate, 
were  striving  to  control  the  emperor  through  the 
fear  of  unpopularity.  Ready  for  war,  convinced 
that  it  would  pay  them  at  once  in  glory  and  booty, 
they  multiplied  pretexts  to  make  it  surge  forth. 
Scarcely  was  one  dispute  settled  amidst  the  grum- 
blings of  their  disappointment  when  another  arose. 
Three  years  had  not  passed  since  the  imperial  de- 
barkation at  Tangiers,  when  they  affronted  us  by 
an  intolerable  demand  in  regard  to  two  deserters 
from  our  Foreign  Legion.  For  a  long  time  Ger- 
many had  taken  umbrage  at  the  Legion  which  was 
the  refuge  of  innumerable  malcontents  from  beyond 
the  Rhine.  In  the  bitter  propaganda  against  it  one 
felt  Germany's  desire  to  destroy  the  Legion. 

72 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


This  time,  two  Germans  enrolled  in  our  Foreign 
Legion,  having  deserted,  Germany  had  the  idea  of 
snatching  them  away  from  our  justice.  The  people 
which  had  this  fanciful  idea  is  the  most  military- 
nation  of  all  and  the  one  in  which  military  duty  and 
discipline  are  most  sacred.  The  intention  of  ex- 
asperating us  was  only  too  evident. 

We  had  right  on  our  side  incontestably.  Accord- 
ing to  international  law,  the  German  demands  could 
not  stand.  If  we  weakened  in  so  just  a  cause  it 
was  the  abdication  of  our  sovereignty  and  independ- 
ence. If  we  humiliated  ourselves  before  such  a 
wild  idea  of  Germany,  how  could  we  hope  to  have 
our  simplest  rights  respected  by  other  countries  and 
by  her  in  the  future.  What  suffering,  what  revolt 
dwelt  in  the  French  soul! 

Three  years  earlier,  as  a  writer  who  had  no  other 
responsibility  than  the  impression  made  by  his 
articles,  Clemenceau  had  said  that,  in  spite  of  our 
peaceful  inclinations,  the  acceptation  of  certain 
demands  constitutes  a  downfall  to  which  one  can- 
not be  resigned  without  righting. 

What  was  he  going  to  do?  There  was  not  a 
moment's  hesitation.  His  duty  was  clear.  The 

73 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


interest  of  the  country  dictated  it  to  him.  We  are 
within  our  rights.  If  we  give  up  we  shall  have 
to  give  up  always.  France,  henceforth,  will  be  at 
the  mercy  of  any  caprice.  If  she  is  conquered,  she 
has  kept  her  honor  intact  up  to  the  present.  The 
defeat  which  they  hope  to  inflict  upon  her  without 
even  the  excuse  of  an  unfortunate  struggle  will 
lower  her  irreparably.  Sure  that  one  cannot  bend 
without  a  moral  disaster,  Clemenceau  speaks  and 
acts.  Responsible  for  the  destiny  of  the  country, 
he  does  without  hesitating  what  he  had  counseled 
as  a  journalist.  He  shows  that  his  well  thought- 
out  articles  and  discourses  are  not  mere  phrases. 

Many  thoughtful  men  of  strong  character  are 
alarmed  and  disapprove,  and  inclined  toward  a  com- 
promise which  Germany  would  not  refuse  and 
which  at  least  would  save  appearances.  Is  not  war 
for  two  Prussian  deserters  going  too  far? 

They  come  to  see  Clemenceau.  They  send  emis- 
saries to  him.  They  chide  him  and  warn  him 
against  his  own  temperament. 

He  knows  that  the  German  deserters  are  only  a 
pretext  to  weaken  us  forever  by  a  capitulation.  He 
demonstrates  it.  He  tries  to  have  it  understood 

74 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


without  always  succeeding.  Far  from  it!  The 
most  resolute  begin  to  shake  their  heads. 

Impassive,  not  worrying  at  seeing  himself  almost 
alone  in  his  opinion,  Clemenceau  does  not  hesitate 
before  this  responsibility  which,  this  time,  can 
justly  be  called  "frightful." 

With  the  calmness  which  this  hard  fighter  never 
possessed  so  much  as  when  hours  are  critical,  with 
a  dignity  joined  to  clear-sighted  freedom  of 
thought,  he  resists  Germany. 

The  negotiations,  immediately  difficult,  are  car- 
ried on  in  his  office.  He  by  no  means  refuses  to 
discuss  and  to  turn  the  dispute  in  the  direction  of 
the  law.  The  tribunal  of  The  Hague  could  be  seized 
if  necessary,  but  with  the  reservation  that  one  would 
not  demand  of  France,  as  was  intended,  a  pre- 
liminary humiliation. 

Clemenceau  is  not  uncompromising  except  on  the 
question  of  our  sovereignty.  That  is  precisely  the 
blow  the  enemy  wants  to  deal  us.  Brutal,  it  rattles 
the  sabre.  Our  Premier  does  not  tremble  nor  is 
he  afraid. 

With  frankness,  with  confidence,  he  explains  the 
stakes  of  this  battle  and  shows  that  our  firmness, 

75 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


ready  for  everything,  is  the  sole  chance  for  a  happy 
solution.  The  press,  interpreter  of  public  opinion, 
is  unanimous  for  resistance.  The  energy  of 
Clemenceau  need  not  be  fortified,  and  yet  when  one 
speaks  in  the  name  of  the  country,  one  has  more 
authority  if  conscious  of  the  resolute  tenseness  of 
the  press  behind  them.  Already  Clemenceau  is 
supported  by  the  nation. 

To  the  German  ambassador,  who  has  instruc- 
tions to  intimidate  our  minister  by  threatening  hid- 
den meanings,  he  responds,  without  excitement, 
with  words  of  reason.  Wretched  arguments  for 
swashbucklers!  Law  makes  very  little  impression 
on  rascals  who  have  come  to  trample  on  you.  There- 
fore, they  decided  to  rattle  the  saber  in  a  still  more 
terrifying  manner. 

In  this  case  there  is  but  one  resource:  to  show 
that,  strong  in  our  right,  we  have  no  fear.  Ironical 
and  resolute,  Clemenceau  watches.  He  does  not 
give  way. 

Then  his  Teutonic  excellency  decides  on  a  plan 
which  it  is  thought  will  bring  France  to  her  knees 
in  panic. 

"Mr.  Premier,"  the  ambassador  says  gravely,  "if 
76 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


complete  satisfaction  were  not  given  to  my  Govern- 
ment, I  would  be  forced  by  order  of  his  Majesty, 
the  Emperor,  to  ask  for  my  passports." 

"The  express  leaves  for  Cologne  at  nine  o'clock, 
it  is  now  seven,"  the  Premier  replied  imperturbably 
after  having  consulted  his  watch.  "Your  Excel- 
lency, if  you  do  not  wish  to  miss  the  train  you  had 
better  hurry!" 

Very  much  disconcerted  by  the  reply  which  plainly 
was  not  in  the  tone  of  the  solemn  conversation  of 
chancellors'  offices,  and  especially  disconcerted  by 
that  sardonic  impassivity  which  proved  how  much 
he  had  failed  to  make  his  point,  the  ambassador 
departed,  but  without  having  asked  for  his  pass- 
ports. The  next  day  he  came  back,  with  less  noise 
of^the  sabre  about  his  civilian's  trousers,  to  say 
that  France's  procedure  was  accepted. 

It  is  possible  that  Germany  had  not  yet  resolved 
to  draw  the  sword  at  that  time.  At  any  rate,  we  did 
not  know.  She  neglected  nothing  to  make  us  fear 
it.  She  was  ready  to  rush  at  us.  The  dangers  were 
great,  but  Clemenceau  understood  that  firmness  was 
our  sole  chance  of  safety.  His  energy  preserved 

77 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


us  perhaps  from  war,  certainly  from  surrender. 
That  day  he  earned  the  gratitude  of  France. 

However,  such  a  brilliant  service  did  not  keep 
him  from  being  overthrown  after  three  years  of  a 
government  during  which,  as  a  patriot  loving  liberty 
and  justice,  he  tried  to  put  his  acts  into  harmony 
with  the  ideas  of  his  whole  life. 

He  went  out  of  office,  a  bigger  man,  popular, 
loved  by  the  crowd,  which  was  pleased  by  his 
energy,  his  jovial  and  witty  good-fellowship,  his 
picturesque  independence.  In  its  eyes  he  had  the 
prestige  of  one  "who  is  not  like  the  others."  •  He 
might  have  fallen  from  power.  He  did  not  fall  in 
the  esteem  of  the  country  which  was  glad  to  find 
in  him  his  impulsive  nature,  good  sense,  good 
humor,  honesty  and  courage,  and  even  some  of  his 
faults,  such  as  his  hot-headedness,  a  bit  too  much 
satire  and  vehemence  in  criticism.  But  the  French- 
man is  temperamental. 

When  he  was  no  longer  minister,  Clemenceau 
was  not  slow  in  perceiving  the  sacrifices  which  he 
had  made  to  France  in  ceasing,  for  three  years,  to 
write  in  order  to  govern  her. 

78 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


Incapable  of  keeping  still  when  colleagues,  whom 
he  esteemed,  misrepresented  his  ideas,  sometimes 
he  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  taking  up  for 
ten  minutes  his  journalist  pen  in  order  to  reestablish 
truth.  Here  was  another  scandal.  What  must  be 
thought  of  a  minister  who  departs  so  much  from 
tradition  as  to  carry  on  a  discussion  in  the  papers? 

These  were  brilliant,  mad  outbursts,  moreover. 
But  when  for  almost  twenty  years  one  had  been  in 
the  habit  of  writing  every  morning  what  he  thinks 
it  is  pretty  hard  to  stop.  And  why  should  Clemen- 
ceau  give  up  speaking  his  mind  on  everything? 
Because  he  has  been  Premier  ?  Not  for  a  moment ! 
Thus  he  continues.  He  takes  up  the  battle,  under 
a  new  form  for  his  unchangeable  ideas. 

His  Homme  Libre  is  established.  More  keen  and 
impetuous  than  ever,  with  the  same  fire  in  his 
heart,  he  defends  the  interests  of  France,  and  ad- 
dresses himself  with  cleverness  to  the  good  sense 
of  all.  He  appeals  with  emotion  to  the  generous 
sentiments  of  the  privileged  class  and  to  the  reason 
of  the  people  for  a  realization,  without  jolts,  of  the 
fraternal  democratic  ideal. 

He  lashes  out  at  chimeras,  and  claws  at  political 
79 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


expediency.  Verbosity,  even  when  brilliant,  wears 
him  out.  He  hates  the  phrases  which  do  not  act. 
He  desires  good  sense,  logic,  freshness,  a  little 
confidence  and  boldness.  When  he  finds  only  soft- 
ness, sentimentality,  lack  of  spirit,  and  fear  of 
action,  he  reprimands  and  lashes.  His  spirit  has 
never  been  younger.  He  has  kept  all  his  vigor  of 
thought,  and  the  unexpected  quality  of  his  incisive 
phrases  which  throw  any  defect  or  weakness  into 
high  relief. 

Sometimes  he  goes  too  far  and  is  mistaken.  He 
knows  it.  "Who  has  not  made  mistakes?"  he  ad- 
mitted recently  with  the  same  frankness  toward 
himself  as  toward  others.  "I  have  made  more  than 
you  think!" 

Irritated  by  a  sudden  disagreement  with  certain 
men,  it  happens  to  him  that  he  forgets  momentarily 
their  virtues  and  their  services,  and  even  long 
intimacy  with  them. 

His  irony  is  pitiless.  He  must  say  what  he 
has  in  his  heart;  and  with  what  picturesque  and 
striking  epigrams  he  says  it.  Fortunately,  his 
reader,  who  knows  his  freshness  and  his  impetuosity 
and  who  likes  him  for  it,  tones  down  the  flourish. 

80 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


There  remain  his  watchful  patriotism,  his  clear 
reason,  the  lofty  idealism  with  which  his  sense  of 
reality  is  ennobled. 

Before  and  since  the  war  some  of  his  friends  did 
not  always  share  his  opinions  about  certain  men 
and  acts  and  were  even  vexed  at  them ;  but  knowing 
the  value  of  his  judgment,  the  trustworthiness  of 
his  information  and  his  sincerity,  they  have  always 
examined  his  reasons  seriously  and  are  always 
uneasy  when  they  do  not  agree  with  him. 

L'Homme  Libre  had  only  existed  for  a  few 
months  when  the  unbridled  armaments  of  Germany 
left  no  more  doubt  in  regard  to  her  aggressive  in- 
tentions. Clemenceau,  who  by  his  reading  and  his 
conversations  with  well-informed  foreigners  is  well 
acquainted  with  the  German  state  of  mind,  is  not 
deceived.  From  year  to  year  he  has  seen  Pan- 
Germanism  grow  and  make  all  Germany  mad.  He 
has  seen  greed  and  pride  increase  to  excess  in  the 
people.  How  many  pages  bear  witness  to  it!  He 
sees  that  the  Kaiser,  restive  under  his  bullying 
grandiloquence,  will  allow  himself  to  be  swept 
along. 

The  pacifist  Clemenceau  does  not  hesitate  to-day 
81 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


any  more  than  yesterday.  That  threat  banishes 
the  beautiful  dream  of  calm,  human  progress. 

What  difference  does  it  make  ?  We  must  protect 
ourselves  from  Germany. 

First  of  all  we  must  return  to  the  three  years' 
military  service  with  a  rapid  increase  in  the  means 
of  defense.  Heavy  burdens?  Greater  inconveni- 
ence for  young  men?  Another  obstacle  to  the 
development  of  the  nation? 

What  difference  does  it  make?  We  must  live. 
We  must  make  every  sacrifice  in  time  to  avoid  new 
annexations,  slavery,  poverty. 

Only  a  large  army  ready  to  cover  the  frontier 
can  preserve  us  from  the  sudden  crushing  attack 
easily  prepared  by  a  government  which  believes  in 
brute  force  and  has  the  enthusiastic  aid  of  the 
unanimous  people,  while  the  rest  of  the  world  re- 
mains in  peace  and  silence. 

Thus  there  must  be  a  quick  reinforcement  of  the 
heavy  artillery;  but  it  will  take  a  year  before  this 
program,  to  be  laid  down  and  voted,  can  increase 
our  security.  All  the  more  reason,  therefore,  to 
bar  our  frontiers  with  as  many  bayonets  as  possible. 

Many  of  the  political  friends  of  Clemenceau 
82 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


winced  before  this  unpopular  measure  which  bled 
the  country  of  money  and  men.  They  did  not  see 
or  they  did  not  wish  to  see.  Such  a  burden  on 
the  eve  of  election!  And  perhaps  after  all  it  was 
an  imaginary  danger  which  "reactionaries"  were 
exaggerating.  Then,  trying  to  blind  themselves  by 
easy  reasons,  deaf  to  painful  truth,  they  fretted 
and  fumed. 

What  difference  does  it  make?  Clemenceau,  who 
knows,  who  does  not  close  his  eyes  to  evidence, 
does  not  wish  to  incur  the  responsibility  of  a  fatal 
weakness. 

He  cannot  be  accused  of  tenderness  for  Barthou's 
cabinet,  which  was  brave  enough  to  fight  for  this 
salutary  law.  He  had  treated  Barthou  rather 
harshly  in  other  circumstances,  although  he  liked 
him.  But  he  does  not  hesitate  to  attack  with  his 
usual  boldness  some  of  his  less  brave  friends. 

Untiringly,  and  with  an  eloquence  springing  from 
his  anxiety,  he  chides,  he  demonstrates,  he  appeals 
to  the  noblest  sentiments  and  to  the  simplest  in- 
stincts of  self -protection.  His  voice  is  not 
suspected.  It  has  never  echoed  with  greater  fervor. 

83 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


People  listen  to  him.  Thanks  to  him,  "constit- 
uencies" are  forgotten. 

Clemenceau  put  his  whole  soul  into  a  campaign 
admirable  in  its  energy,  its  forceful  argument  and 
persuasive  power.  He  sees  that  the  life  and  future 
of  France  are  at  stake.  Anxious,  excited,  tortured, 
he  insists.  His  words  resound  like  calls  to  arms. 
You  feel  his  hopes  vibrating  in  them,  the  emotion 
of  his  memories.  He  does  not  want  Parliament  to 
be  enticed  into  hiding  the  peril  from  the  nation. 
Without  worrying  about  the  discredit  that  faces 
him  in  certain  political  circles  which  are  already 
hurling  insults,  he  tries  to  warn  France. 

Once  again  she  finds  her  own  sentiments  in  this 
great  voice.  She  becomes  resigned  to  the  heaviest 
and  most  grinding  burdens  as  the  only  way  to  avoid 
still  crueller  sacrifices.  The  memory  of  her  great 
history,  the  certainty  of  her  moral  value,  her  con- 
sciousness of  the  force  which  gives  her  lofty  ideals, 
renews  her  energy. 

That  is  what  this  old  man  who  is  always  so 
young  expresses  with  his  eloquence  and  his  emo- 
tion. In  his  thrilling  articles  the  patriot,  still  bleed- 
ing from  the  wounds  of  1870,  recalls  the  miseries 

84 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


of  the  defeat  and  invasion,  the  murderous  plunder- 
ing brutality  of  Germany  let  loose.  He  makes  one 
feel  that  this  time  in  the  murderous  frenzy  of  her 
hatred,  greed  and  pride,  her  attack  will  still  be  more 
devastating  and  it  will  be  the  end  of  France. 

These  are  proud,  resolute  and  tender  pages  in 
which,  with  filial  piety,  with  the  most  delicate 
poe'try,  and  with  the  firm  accent  of  a  warrior  ready 
for  everything  in  order  to  defend  our  homes,  he 
evokes  the  grandeur  of  our  past,  our  untiring,  noble 
effort  throughout  the  ages  for  the  reign  of  justice, 
for  the  liberty  of  men,  and  nations,  for  the  triumph 
of  our  ideal  fraternalism. 

They  are  warmly  written  pages,  where,  in  the 
compelling  lyricism  of  a  man  of  action  which  is 
one  of  the  characteristics  of  his  style,  he  sings  of 
our  glory  through  the  ages,  the  charm  of  our  land 
of  France,  the  delicate  shadow  of  our  sky,  the 
gentleness  of  our  manners  and  laws,  the  precision 
of  our  language,  the  beauty  and  enchantment  of  our 
civilization. 

These  are  treasures  for  which  we  are  accountable 
to  future  generations  and  which  we  must  defend. 
Then  soberly  and  with  pathos,  he  begs  the  people 

85 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


not  to  deny  the  evidence  and  close  their  eyes  to  the 
peril,  in  order  not  to  take  the  painful  measures 
which  alone  can  avert  it. 

A  practical  statesman  at  the  same  time  that  he 
is  a  poet,  he  fights  error  with  close  argument  and 
exact  facts.  He  replies  victoriously  to  all  objec- 
tions; he  denounces  the  hypocrisy  of  false  security. 
He  deals  harshly  with  the  weakness  and  blindness 
of  selfish  office  seekers. 

The  return  to  the  three  years'  military  service  is 
voted.  The  Premier  at  that  time  was  M.  Louis 
Barthou,  whose  political  reputation  will  rest  on 
the  fact  that  he  was  brave  enough  to  make  the 
necessary  fight  for  this  law  and  to  keep  up  the  strug- 
gle in  spite  of  insults.  Together  with  him,  Cle- 
menceau  was  the  essential  worker.  How  many 
progressive  republicans  rallied  to  his  voice !  Grateful 
France  will  not  forget  these  accents  in  which  she 
found  again  faith  in  herself  and  her  wish  to  live. 

In  spite  of  other  campaigns  which  did  not  please 
every  one,  Clemenceau  was  more  popular  than  ever 
when  war  broke  out. 

As  soon  as  he  understood  that  its  red  specter, 
86 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


which  he  had  feared  to  see  so  long,  was  rising  over 
the  world,  he  girded  up  his  loins  and  threw  himself 
into  battle  with  all  his  strength. 

The  land  of  our  ancestors,  our  history  filled  with 
blood  and  glory,  the  men  and  women  of  France, 
our  peasants,  our  soldiers,  their  mothers,  the  French 
language  and  thought,  inspired  his  keen  and  tender 
eloquence,  and  increased  his  strength  for  battle. 

From  the  first  day  he  is  in  the  breach.  With  his 
burning  words,  he  sustains  courage.  He  cries  out 
his  gratitude.  He  tries  to  animate  every  one  with 
his  sacred  flame. 

Negligence,  and  lack  of  foresight,  exasperated 
him.  With  what  sadness  he  points  them  out !  Too 
distrustful  at  the  beginning,  censorship  cuts  and 
suppresses  his  articles.  He  grows  indignant  over 
it.  Do  they  not  understand  that  he  only  wishes  to 
serve,  avoid  waste,  and  fatal  carelessness,  to  be  on 
guard  against  fatuous  foolishness,  of  certain  pre- 
posterous, careless  functionaries,  whether  they  be 
military  or  civil?  He  wishes  to  spare  us  in  these 
critical  hours  the  revolt  of  mothers  and  wives  who 
are  angered  by  the  scandal  of  slackers. 

As  they  annoy  him  he  attacks  with  more  heat  and 
87 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


bitterness.  As  a  protest  he  makes  out  of  his  Homme 
Libre,  cut  in  two  by  the  censor's  scissors,  L' Homme 
Enchaine  while  awaiting  better  times,  in  which  he 
continues  to  warn  and  reprimand. 

It  is  a  struggle  of  three  years  for  France,  which, 
in  his  tenderness  for  the  resignation  and  heroism  of 
Frenchmen,  he  wished  so  strongly  to  spare  them 
useless  sacrifices  and  the  risks  of  disasters,  too  cruel 
after  so  much  misery,  anguish  and  grief. 

When  we  have  the  feeling  that  his  severity  is  too 
harsh  toward  certain  men  and  sometimes  feel  sorry 
when  we  see  him  attack  certain  ideas,  which,  taken 
as  a  whole,  are  happy,  we  remain  faithful  to  him 
because  we  can  imagine  his  fear  and  his  impatience. 

From  morning  until  evening  he  only  thinks  of 
the  country  and  her  salvation.  He  suffers  from 
mistakes  which  might  compromise  the  magnificent 
national  outburst  of  heroism.  He  feels  their  danger. 
By  pointing  them  out  he  would  like  to  be  able  to 
save  France  from  them  or  avoid  their  prolonga- 
tion. 

In  such  a  vital  crisis  he  knows  the  importance 
of  an  undecisive  week  or  of  a  lost  day.  He  sees 

88 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


the  dangers  of  negligence,  the  terrible  consequences 
that  a  mistake  might  have  that  is  persisted  in. 

Therefore  his  warning  is  sharp,  sometimes  even 
threatening.  Clemenceau  speaks  strongly  because 
he  is  in  a  hurry  to  be  understood.  In  the  haunting 
idea  of  salvation,  he  attacks  with  a  virulence  that 
may  seem  excessive  men  whose  ideas  are  not  in 
accord  with  him. 

This  severity  finds  its  justification  in  its  cause 
so  worthy  of  respect.  Can  a  company  of  soldiers 
which  is  threatened  complain  because  the  sentinel 
cries  out  his  warning  too  loudly? 

He  was  president  of  the  Commission  of  External 
Affairs  and  the  Senate,  and  later  of  the  Commis- 
sion of  the  Army,  when  M.  de  Freycinet,  former 
member  of  the  National  Defense  of  1871,  became 
for  the  time  being  Minister  of  State  in  Briand's 
cabinet.  In  this  capacity  M.  Clemenceau  played  a 
useful  role  in  the  speeding  up  of  the  armaments 
and  tried  to  make  his  sure  knowledge  and  his  well- 
tried  clear-sightedness  of  use  in  a  happier  conduct 
of  the  war. 

Every  one  who  is  well  informed  renders  full 
89 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


justice  to  the  work,  to  the  discernment  and  to  the 
useful  influence  of  these  two  commissions,  A 
patriotic  policy  always  animated  their  ability  and 
their  good  will.  Clemenceau  inspired  them  through 
his  faith,  his  good  sense,  his  logic,  the  power  of  his 
mind ;  and  his  capacity  for  work  did  wonders. 

Never  allowing  himself  to  be  duped  by  unsound 
reasons  and  always  battling  against  their  stubborn- 
ness, with  what  firmness  he  shook  them  out  of 
routine,  apathy  and  slowness! 

War  had  surprised  us,  pretty  badly  equipped 
against  the  formidable  means  of  aggression  which 
Germany  had  accumulated.  In  July,  1914,  two 
weeks  before  the  cataclysm,  he  had  cried  with 
anguish  from  the  tribune  of  the  senate :  "Beware !" 
The  program  for  the  manufacture  of  munitions, 
voted  in  the  spring  of  1914,  could  only  be  partially 
realized  at  the  end  of  several  months.  Therefore 
it  was  necessary  to  improvise  while  the  battle  was 
going  on  more  rapid  and  complete  programs  and 
more  efficacious. 

The  minister  of  war  at  that  time  was  M.  Mil- 
lerand,  who  deserves  praise  for  having  kept  his 
calmness  in  tragic  hours,  and  who,  on  the  morrow 

90 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


of  the  first  victory  of  the  Marne,  mobilized  with 
great  resoluteness  French  industry,  which  had  been 
for  the  most  part  driven  out  of  its  shops  by  the 
invasion.  He  found  in  the  commission  of  the  army, 
in  the  senate,  a  watchful  and  powerful  aid. 

The  effort  of  his  successors  was  not  less  sustained, 
pursuant  to  the  prospects  of  a  long  struggle. 

The  influence  of  M.  Clemenceau  at  the  head  of 
the  Commission  of  External  Affairs  was  just  as 
salutary.  He  knew  history  well  and  was  supple- 
menting his  knowledge  constantly  by  a  study  which 
was  serious  and  without  preconceived  notions  of 
all  modern  questions.  He  received  many  visitors  of 
considerable  note,  and,  knowing  how  to  make  them 
talk,  he  brought  into  the  debate  over  which  he  pre- 
sided very  precious  information,  which  his  clear- 
sightedness illuminated. 

He  made  the  political  world  appreciate  the  ad- 
vantage of  not  being  an  ignoramus. 

Then  his  attention  is  called  little  by  little,  by 
courageous  writers,  to  the  adroit  maneuver  of  the 
Germans  to  separate  us,  to  make  our  weapons  fall 
from  our  hands,  and  to  weaken  before  victory  our 
effort  for  defense. 

91 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


He  observes.  He  gets  information.  He  reasons. 
What  he  discovers  makes  him  indignant  and 
frightens  him.  He  discovers  men  who  are  selling 
France  for  money.  There  are  others  who,  by  the 
weakness  and  carelessness  of  profiteers,  favor  their 
designs  by  giving  them  the  means  to  betray.  There 
are  those  who  are  doing  a  disservice  to  the  country, 
a  whole  insolent  band,  master  of  the  power  that  is 
terrorizing,  in  the  pay  of  Germany  and  at  the  serv- 
ice of  the  guilty  plot,  is  demoralizing  the  rear  of 
the  army,  inciting  soldiers  to  revolt,  leading  us 
imperceptibly,  by  blackmail,  threat  and  insult,  to  a 
defeatist  peace  which  will  be  the  death  of  France. 

Then  one  Sunday  in  July,  1917,  restraining  his 
heart  aroused  by  so  much  ignominy,  the  old  patriot 
cries  out  to  the  French  people  what  was  being  done 
with  its  heroism,  with  its  resignation,  with  its  spirit 
of  sacrifice! 

With  all  the  authority  that  he  has,  he,  the  wit- 
ness of  our  grief,  and  of  our  efforts  to  build  up  the 
ruins,  smashed  it. 

The  sentinel  was  watching.  He  uttered  the  cry 
of  alarm  in  time.  The  whole  of  France  acclaims 
him. 

92 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


France  recalls  his  acts,  his  speeches,  his  articles, 
his  constant  appeal  during  forty-seven  years.  In 
these  tragic  hours  she  has  faith  in  him.  She  feels 
that  in  such  a  crisis,  together  with  his  lofty  and 
rare  qualities,  his  faults  themselves  can  serve  us. 

Tired  of  party  coalitions,  of  eloquence  which 
does  not  act,  or  of  haggard  weakness  that  stammers, 
of  selfish  ability,  boiling  under  a  closed  lid,  France 
wants  him  in  power. 

A  good  Frenchman,  M.  Raymond  Poincare, 
President  of  the  Republic,  a  big  enough  man  not  to 
remember  in  such  a  peril  the  stings  of  former  years, 
calls  him  to  power.  And  Clemenceau,  for  the  sake 
of  the  work  of  salvation  which  must  unite  these 
two  statesmen,  rushed  with  outstretched  hand  to 
the  hand  stretched  out  to  him.  This  forgetfulness 
of  themselves  in  the  time  of  danger  of  the  country 
will  redound  to  their  honor. 

In  spite  of  this  almost  unanimous  swing  of  opin- 
ion, what  a  risk  and  what  a  trial  power  is  in  such 
circumstances  for  a  man  who  had  had  the  attitude 
of  M.  Clemenceau! 

His  criticism  was  severe.  Thinking  only  of 
France,  he  knew  neither  friends  nor  enemies.  He 

93 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


spared  no  one.  Of  how  many  choices  and  decisions 
he  disapproved !  How  many  methods  have  incurred 
his  censure!  Having  shown  himself  harsh,  he  must 
foresee  the  harshness  of  others.  They  are  waiting 
for  his  measures.  There  is  no  Government  more 
difficult  than  his.  The  situation  that  results  from 
uncertainty,  from  the  conduct  of  the  war,  renders 
the  task  still  more  thankless. 

Resolutely  he  takes  the  helm  in  his  hands.  He 
is  strong  in  the  confidence  which  the  country  places 
in  him.  He  profits  by  the  unfortunate  experiences 
which  he  has  had.  He  will  not  allow  mistakes  from 
which  he  has  suffered  to  be  made  again. 

Above  all,  he  thinks  only  of  the  war.  He  carries 
it  on  with  the  wild  energy  of  a  man  who  does  not 
want  his  country  to  die.  Having  no  other  ambition 
than  to  save  all  that  he  loves,  he  has  the  pure  and 
stoical  faith  of  a  member  of  the  Convention  defend- 
ing Liberty.  Sole  survivor  of  a  generation  of  men 
who  have  disappeared,  inconsolable  because  they 
were  not  able  to  reestablish  violated  Rights,  he 
makes  it  a  matter  of  honor  to  realize  their  hope. 

Behold  him  standing  at  the  helm  in  the  tempest! 
His  sharp,  calm  eyes  so  intensely  black  in  his  white 

94 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


face,  watch  through  the  deep,  foaming  waves  for 
the  reefs  and  mines.  He  is  wet  by  the  spray.  But 
staunch  under  his  little  soft  hat,  with  a  turned  down 
brim,  a  hat  which  has  become  the  legend  of  the 
battle-field,  he  stands  firm. 

Energetic,  he  tolerates  only  energy.  Full  of  con- 
fidence, he  wants  others  to  be  confident.  Under  the 
hardest  blows  of  the  sea,  master  of  himself, 
humorous  and  sardonic,  he  raises  a  laugh  by  his 
picturesque  jokes  which  heartens  the  struggling 
crew. 

Then  suddenly  what  words  he  speaks,  simply  and 
profoundly  human,  of  a  controlled  emotion,  which 
bring  tears  to  the  hardest  eye! 

In  power  once  more  he  remains  faithful  to  his 
unchangeable  ideas. 

Suppressing  political  censorship,  he  bares  him- 
self to  blows.  Although  certain  of  his  friends  blame 
him  for  it,  his  respect  for  liberty  goes  so  far  that 
he  tolerates  articles  dangerous  for  national  unity. 

Finally,  as  painful  as  this  thankless  part  of  a 
great  task  may  be  for  him,  he  lets  the  hand  of  jus- 
tice descend  pitilessly  on  the  crimes,  the  weak- 

95 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


nesses,  and  the  mistakes  of  which,  as  a  senator  and 
journalist,  he  denounced  the  peril. 

He  sacrifices  everything  for  the  safety  of  his 
country  except  his  principles  of  an  unregenerate 
liberal. 

He  always  had  a  horror  of  useless  verbiage,  but 
more  than  ever  in  this  cataclysm  in  which  all  forces 
must  be  tense  for  action.  He  knows  that  we  are 
the  dupes  of  words  and  that  we  die  of  them.  There- 
fore this  great  orator,  sure  of  success  as  soon  as 
he  speaks,  has  a  power  and  a  will  for  silence  from 
which  nothing  will  make  him  depart.  Insistent 
teasing  makes  him  on  the  contrary  only  more  dumb. 

He  only  mounts  on  the  tribune  when  he  has 
something  to  say  and  at  the  moment  that  he  is 
chosen. 

Then  he  speaks  wonderfully  to  France  the  lan- 
guage which  his  love  of  France  inspires  in  him  and 
which,  in  her  instinct  of  conservation,  in  her  noble 
idealism  and  her  clear  feeling  for  the  real,  she  would 
like  to  be  able  to  speak  to  herself. 

Not  only  does  he  assemble  our  forces  and  make 
war,  but  with  a  serene  indifference  for  politics  he 
does  nothing  but  make  war.  He  knows  war.  He 

96 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


knows  its  political  conduct,  its  resources  in  men  and 
material,  for  this  is  his  especial  field.  He  is  pre- 
cisely informed  on  all  details  and  has  the  figures 
in  his  memory.  Let  one  of  the  most  meticulous 
members  of  the  Commission  ask  him  about  different 
stores  of  supplies  and  the  state  of  our  military 
strength,  he  replies  with  exact  figures.  His  trust- 
worthy information  and  memory  are  highly  valuable 
for  the  conception  of  possible  enterprises  and  his 
judgment  concerning  those  suggested  to  him. 

He  was  surrounded  by  civilians  and  soldiers  who 
were  active  collaborators,  reserved  and  sparing  of 
words;  and  they  protected  him  from  useless  annoy- 
ance and  idle  talk.  He  was  able  to  study  affairs  as 
a  man  who  knows  how  to  work.  ,  He  is  construc- 
tive. His  ability  to  think  clearly  prevents  any  news, 
grave  as  it  may  be,  from  obscuring  his  vision  or 
exciting  him. 

Since  the  habit  of  procrastination  appears  to  him, 
especially  in  war  times,  to  be  a  harmful  weakness, 
he  never  goes  to  sleep  at  night  having  put  off  until 
to-morrow  the  decisions  he  must  make.  He  does 
not  leave  his  desk  without  having  reflected  and 
studied  until  the  solution  of  the  problem  is  found. 

97 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


No  one  is  ignorant  of  the  prestige  in  the  eyes  of 
the  allies  which  the  complete  mastery  of  himself, 
his  power  over  men,  his  good  sense  and  wide  knowl- 
edge, give  him. 

Just  and  frank,  but  with  a  perfect  courtesy  in 
his  happy  and  witty  frankness,  he  is  listened  to  with 
the  most  cordial  sympathy  in  the  allies'  councils. 
The  light  of  his  mind  shines  there.  He  is  both 
powerful  and  persuasive. 

Every  one  knows  the  personal  influence  which 
he  had,  on  a  grave  day,  for  the  acceptance  by  all 
the  nations  of  the  principles  of  a  supreme  command 
of  the  armies;  at  other  times,  the  influence  he 
exercised  in  putting  through  helpful  measures. 
History  will  tell  us  later  of  these  striking  details. 

It  is  sufficient  now  to  know  how  much  the  min- 
isters and  generals  of  the  Entente,  at  difficult  times, 
liked  his  clear  judgment,  his  justice,  his  uprightness, 
his  simple  "gentlemanliness"  and  his  pleasing 
humor. 

Just  as  he  does  not  like  to  be  influenced  by  in- 
trigues and  teasing  from  within,  so  he  does  not 
wish  to  be  moved  by  sharp  practice  from  without. 

Count  Czernin,  Austrian  prime  minister,  at  the 
98 


POLICIES  AND  DEEDS 


same  time  impudent  and  ridiculous,  collapsed  under 
the  straight-from-the-shoulder  blow  which  Cle- 
menceau  delivered  to  him  in  the  prompt  reply: 
"Count  Czernin  lied." 

And  the  Chancellors'  offices  will  remember  for 
many  a  day  the  vigor  with  which  the  imperial  back- 
ing was  lashed  by  the  phrase :  "There  are  some  con- 
sciences which  are  rotten!" 

When  the  expressive  words  resounded,  there 
were  among  us  timid  men  who  regretted  this  reso- 
lute hitting  from  the  shoulder.  "What  a  mistake!" 
they  wailed.  But  partisan  spirit  is  responsible  for 
many  other  mistakes. 

Six  months  have  passed  since  these  two  memor- 
able boxing  bouts.  Now  that  one  sees  by  the 
experience  at  Brest-Litovsk,  where  parleying  with 
the  knavery  of  the  Central  Powers  leads  as  long  as 
they  are  not  defeated,  one  understands  better  that 
these  straight  blows,  so  beautifully  landed,  pre- 
served us  from  a  wasp's  nest  of  dangerous  negotia- 
tions. This  well-directed  blow,  given  so  oppor- 
tunely, was  a  diplomatic  victory. 

He  considers  very  carefully  his  most  energetic 
acts.  He  understands  all  the  phases,  all  the  tangled 

99 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


interests  of  the  war  towards  which  he  has  exerted 
all  his  force  of  mind  for  four  years.  Animating 
every  one  by  his  energy  and  his  faith,  himself 
sustained  by  the  soul  of  the  Nation,  which  recog- 
nizes itself  in  his  old  heart,  he  is  on  the  way  toward 
the  realization  of  the  hope  which  has  illuminated 
his  whole  life. 

The  liberation  of  the  country  is  his  reward. 


Ill 

THE  MAN 

MUSCULAR,  vigorous,  alert,  with  his  broad 
brow  concealing  sharp  black  eyes,  with  his 
resolute  carriage  and  energetic  movements,  this 
Vendean  is  the  descendant  of  a  strong  race. 

After  a  life  of  uninterrupted  labor  which  was 
tormented  by  political  struggles,  persecutions  and 
prison,  his  father  died  about  twelve  years  ago  al- 
most ninety  years  of  age. 

Passionately  curious  about  ideas,  attentive  to  the 
efforts  and  creations  of  modern  thoughts  in  all 
fields,  never  tiring  of  intercourse  with  lofty  minds 
of  all  epochs,  he  absorbed  with  the  same  animation 
pages  of  yesterday  and  pages  of  to-day. 

Shut  up  among  his  books,  indifferent  to  the  petti- 
ness and  ugliness  of  life,  which  his  wise  old 
philosophy  did  not  wish  to  see,  he  read,  meditated, 
and  pondered  over  ideas,  deeds  and  men. 

This  ancestor  of  his  with  his  active  brain  was 
101 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


a  noble  figure;  and,  faithful  toward  himself,  confi- 
dent of  the  future,  he  thought  until  he  drew  his  last 
breath.  Gustave  Geffroy,  during  his  stay  in  the 
Vendean  country,  talked  much  with  this  old  man 
who  loved  youth  and  conversation,  and,  without 
naming  him,  reproduced  an  unforgettable  repre- 
sentation of  him  in  an  interesting  novel. 

His  physical  activity  was  surprising  almost  up 
to  the  time  of  his  death.  The  father  of  M.  Clemen- 
ceau  rested  from  his  reading  by  taking  long  walks 
which  were  conducive  to  meditation.  He  loved 
nature  and  men  more  than  books,  in  which  he 
sought  especially,  in  fiction  as  well  as  in  history, 
stirring  representations  of  nature  and  humanity. 

With  his  stick  in  his  hand,  he  walked  daily  in 
the  country.  He  was  cordial  with  the  people  and 
interested  in  all  agricultural  affairs.  He  loved  the 
familiar  landscape. 

With  his  strength  of  oak,  he  cared  little  for  bad 
weather  and,  many  a  time  even  in  his  extreme  old 
age,  when  he  was  surprised  by  a  sudden  shower, 
he  simply  came  back  to  a  blazing  fire  and  dried  him- 
self. 

His  stubborn  and  bantering  indifference  did  not 

T02 


THE  MAN 


permit  complicated  precautions.  Do  we  not  recog- 
nize his  ways  and  his  moods  in  his  son  when,  in 
the  first  line  trenches,  he  obstinately  refused  to  take 
care  of  himself? 

Six  children  blessed  the  industrious,  useful, 
worthy  life  of  the  father  of  M.  Clemenceau.  Our 
Premier  arrived  second  in  this  family.  He  owes 
respect  to  a  sister  a  few  years  older  whose  faculties 
age  has  not  dimmed.  The  moral  and  physical 
strength  of  the  other  children  is  well  known. 

No  one  is  more  given  over  to  tradition  than  this 
family  of  "revolutionists."  For  more  than  three 
hundred  years  they  have  been  doctors,  and  with 
honor,  for  one  of  our  kings  ennobled  one  of  the 
distant  ancestors.  Without  doubt  his  majesty  did 
not  foresee  the  famous  coalition  of  the  Socialists. 

In  addition  to  the  arms  which  he  forges  untir- 
ingly for  France,  Clemenceau  has  weapons  which 
do  not  seem  to  have  made  much  impression  on  him 
or  his  father.  Thus  it  was  not  to  justify  them  that 
he  became  a  doctor. 

This  old  tradition  stops  with  him.  His  son,  M. 
Michel  Clemenceau,  a  captain  of  colonial  troops 
who  first  entered  Saint  Mihiel  at  the  head  of  his 

103 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


company,  is  a  chemical  engineer.  But  cannot  tradi- 
tion, interrupted  once  during  three  centuries,  be 
renewed? 

Our  future  minister  of  National  Defense  passed 
the  vacations  of  his  youth  in  the  village  of  Mouil- 
leron-en-Pareds  (Vendee),  the  cradle  of  his  ma- 
ternal ancestors  where  his  mother,  faithful  to 
another  tradition,  came  at  the  time  of  his  birth. 

He  was  a  student  at  the  Lycee  of  Nantes,  where 
his  father  was  practicing  his  profession.  Later  he 
became  a  student  at  Paris.  During  the  summer  he 
played  and  hunted  with  the  young  country  boys, 
was  happy  in  his  absolute  liberty  in  the  fields  and 
woods.  Intoxicated  with  light  and  air,  he  acquired 
the  love  of  nature,  which  is  felt  in  all  his  works. 
He  got  to  know  men  and  the  art  of  talking  to  them 
familiarly,  cordially  and  with  dignity.  He  acquired 
this  love  for  the  earth  and  this  respect  for  the  per- 
sistent work  of  the  peasant,  which  was,  as  we  shall 
see,  one  of  the  elements  of  his  patriotism. 

This  healthy,  rude  life  in  the  country  strength- 
ened him  morally  and  physically  and  offered  peaceful 
moments  of  repose  during  the  squalls  of  his  political 
life.  A  whole  side  of  this  character  of  Clemenceau 

104 


THE  MAN 


would  escape  us  if  we  lost  sight  of  the  influence 
on  him  of  his  native  land  and  of  the  labor  of  the 
peasants. 

In  this  man  of  the  city,  of  Parliament,  of  journals 
and  books,  there  has  remained  through  all  the  ex- 
citements and  struggles  a  touch  of  the  country 
gentleman.  That  is  the  reason  he  is  able  to  be 
understood  by  the  peasant  soldiers.  He  talks  to 
them  in  the  trenches  with  the  same  familiar  ease 
that  he  would  at  the  turn  of  a  deep  road  of  Vendee. 

He  has  their  good  sense  and  their  sense  of 
reality;  and  in  the  spontaneousness  of  his  sallies  of 
wit  and  quickness  of  his  repartees  he  has  their 
bantering  outlook,  their  patience  and  tenacity,  and, 
when  it  suits  them,  their  formidable  capacity  for 
silence. 

One  day  one  of  his  friends  who  was  not  yet 
hardened  to  calumny  and  was  trembling  with  in- 
dignation at  some  foolish  lying  remarks,  told  him 
he  intended  to  reply  and  to  send  a  challenge  for  a 
duel.  Clemenceau  smiled  with  contempt  for  such 
odious  polemics ;  and,  convinced  that  an  honest  man 
who  is  sure  of  his  conscience  ought  not  to  waste  his 
life  on  such  trifles,  irritating  to-day  but  effaced  by 

105 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


truth  tomorrow,  said:    "Who  is  slandered  more 
than  I  am  ?     Do  I  reply  ?     I  wait !" 

Because  of  the  swiftness  of  his  thought  and  the 
picturesque  vivacity  of  expression  some  people  be- 
lieve him  to  be  impulsive  and  incapable  of  control- 
ling his  changing  humor  flaming  with  anger  or 
dangerous  joke. 

This  is  a  mistake.  Sovereign  calmness  hides 
under  his  jovial  and  brilliant  petulance.  One  can- 
not imagine  the  degree  of  calmness  which  Clemen- 
ceau  can  attain.  He  never  is  so  much  master  of 
himself  as  in  the  gravest  moments  when,  in  the 
midst  of  the  obstacles  and  dangers,  he  makes  a 
decision. 

Thus  like  all  real  men  of  action,  Clemenceau 
only  appears  nervous  when,  seeing  the  peril  and  not 
having  the  means  to  ward  it  off,  he  suffers  at  not 
being  able  to  act.  But  when  he  has  the  possibility 
of  fighting  it  and  of  making  his  ideas  prevail,  of 
joining  in  the  work  of  salvation,  he  is  immediately 
wonderful  in  his  lucid  calmness. 

At  no  time  have  his  intimate  collaborators,  who 
really  know  his  character,  been  mistaken  in  it.  The 

106 


THE  MAN 


often  recognized  sign  of  battle  in  his  placid  gravity, 
his  appearance  and  his  movements,  even  his  gayest 
playfulness,  which  reveals  a  great  freedom  of  mind, 
is  blended  with  his  greatest  anxiety. 

We  shall  not  go  so  far  as  to  say  with  a  certain 
man  given  to  paradox,  who,  looking  at  him  care- 
fully, remarked:  "Clemenceau  is  joyfully  serene 
to-night.  Things  are  not  going  well!"  But  it  is 
true  that,  with  his  perfect  control  over  himself,  he 
is  never  so  calm  as  at  the  moment  when  he  has 
to  be. 

Therefore,  in  this  war  in  which  the  life  of  France 
is  at  stake,  since  he  has  the  responsibility  of  the 
gigantic  struggle  and  can  act,  he  astonishes  those 
who  do  not  know  him  well  by  his  thoughtful  gravity 
and  calm. 

He  is  master  of  himself  enough  to  be  able  to 
measure  out  his  violence,  note  its  effect,  and  stop  it 
at  the  right  moment.  What  a  nervous  force  he 
holds  in  check  for  the  sake  of  clear  reasoning! 

Men  who  have  not  been  able  to  make  themselves 
heard  declare,  with  a  look  of  fear,  that  he  does  not 
know  how  to  listen.  This  is  another  mistake. 
Clemenceau  receives  eagerly  everything  brought  to 

107 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


him.  At  the  same  time  that  he  is  scrutinizing1  his 
visitor  he  stores  up  his  words,  he  reflects  and  dis- 
cusses them  in  his  own  mind  even  when  he  does 
not  discuss  them  with  his  opponent. 

Yes,  indeed,  he  listens.  And  how?  With  what 
power  of  absorption,  with  what  a  keen,  critical 
sense!  But  he  does  so  only  if  he  is  interested,  if 
the  person  who  is  talking  does  not  appear  foolish, 
confused,  harebrained. 

Since  he  hates  to  lose  his  time  and  has  a  horror 
of  confused  wordiness,  of  dreaming,  disordered 
minds,  of  blunderers  and  fools,  there  are  persons  of 
great  importance  and  of  high  rank  to  whom  he 
listens  no  more  after  two  minutes  of  their  rambling 
talk  and  whom  no  human  power  will  force  him  to 
hear  again. 

Having  received  this  rap  over  the  knuckles,  these 
men  are  naturally  the  ones  who  reproach  him  and 
who  give  him  the  reputation  of  not  getting  informa- 
tion or  opinions. 

He  gets  information,  certainly,  but  only  from 
those  who  know.  He  gets  opinions,  but  only  from 
those  who  think. 

Watch  him  at  loggerheads  with  men  who,  on  the 
108 


THE  MAN 


contrary,  are  sober  and  clear  in  their  exposition  of 
the  subject  and  are  bringing  him  sure  information 
or  an  interesting  idea.  After  having  looked  into 
their  eyes  and  listened  with  calmness  and  in  impres- 
sive silence  to  their  words,  he  sums  up  in  a  few 
words  the  objections  that  he  believes  to  be  valid. 

He  discusses  as  long  as  he  believes  he  is  right, 
or  until  he  has  brought  forth  arguments  so  strong 
that  his  opposition  is  strengthened.  Then  he  keeps 
silent.  And  his  collaborators  know  what  this  silence 
means.  It  is  useless  to  insist  in  a  last  charge.  The 
case  is  heard. 

Then  come  a  few  hours  more  of  consideration  to 
see  if  really  he  can  find  nothing  against  the  argu- 
ment that  he  is  on  the  point  of  adopting.  Then 
very  simply,  with  the  good  faith  which  is  character- 
istic of  him,  he  makes  it  his  own  because  he  con- 
siders it  the  best  henceforth. 

It  is  not  only  when  they  bring  him  an  interesting 
view  that  he  takes  the  opinion  of  others  into  con- 
sideration. He  knows  how  to  listen  when  before 
a  public  debate  or  a  decision  to  be  made,  he  wishes 
to  test  his  ideas  beforehand. 

He  fences  so  that  he  will  be  opposed.  He  pro- 
log 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


yokes  counter  attacks.  He  tries  his  strength.  It 
is  curious  cerebral  gymnastics  after  long  mental 
control.  It  is  a  practice  stroke  before  the  game. 

These  are  trial  games  which,  with  partners  well 
chosen,  permit  him  to  discern  better  the  strength 
and  the  weakness  of  his  argument.  And  this  is  also 
a  proof  of  his  fairmindedness. 

Another  peculiarity  of  his  character  is,  after  the 
examination  of  a  difficult  affair  or  consideration 
concerning  some  ticklish  debate,  the  clear-sighted- 
ness in  which  he  selects  the  essential  point  upon 
which  he  must  insist,  and  also  the  weak  point  where 
the  adverse  attack  may  well  strike,  and  which  it  will 
be  necessary  to  defend  with  the  greatest  energy. 
Then  he  fortifies  it  and  masses  his  reserves  there. 

This  is  an  excellent  habit  of  mind  always,  but 
how  much  more  precious  when  one  is  at  war  and 
when  one  must  expect  the  most  unforeseen  offen- 
sive, such  as  sham  peaces,  offers  of  armistices  and 
parleys,  campaigns  kept  up  behind  the  lines.  One 
likes  to  feel  himself  led  by  a  chief  who  knows 
where  to  place  his  gabions  and  at  what  propitious 
moment  to  unmask  his  machine  guns. 

This  timeliness  of  M.  Clemenceau  is  very  for- 
ITO 


THE  MAN 


tunate  and  is  always  the  fruit  of  long  deliberation 
with  himself.  Nothing  can  distract  him  even  when 
he  seems  to  be  thinking  of  something  else  from  the 
intense  application  of  his  mind,  with  which  he  falls 
to  the  study  of  a  problem,  until  the  best  solution  and 
the  surest  means  of  obtaining  it  appear  to  him.  As 
remarkable  as  his  faculty  of  improvisation,  he  is 
not  one  of  those  who  trusts  to  chance.  He  has  the 
clear  and  foreseeing  brain  of  a  leader. 

This  serious  study  of  facts  and  these  long,  pro- 
found reflections,  are  set  off  by  his  roguish  joviality. 

Behold  him  in  his  own  home,  in  his  modest 
ground-floor  apartment  in  the  rue  Franklin  where 
he  has  lived  for  twenty-five  years.  He  works  at 
his  table  shaped  like  a  horse-shoe,  suitable  for  the 
display  of  the  many  different  official  documents 
with  which  he  is  occupied  at  the  same  time.  Or  see 
him  in  his  minister's  cabinet,  formerly  at  the  De- 
partment of  the  Interior,  now  at  the  Department 
of  War.  The  cares  which  assail  him,  the  constant 
stream  of  people,  news  which  sweeps  in  like  waves 
from  the  whole  world,  the  sudden  appearance  of  his 
ministers,  of  generals,  of  diplomats,  the  secret  ar- 

TII 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


rival  of  his  intimate  aides,  the  different  combina- 
tions which  he  follows  through  everything,  nothing 
alters  his  calm  and  his  lucidity  of  mind. 

Motionless  but  looking  straight  at  his  interlocu- 
tors, he  suddenly  becomes  animated  if  the  com- 
munication interests  him. 

Then,  while  listening  or  while  answering,  with 
lively  gestures  sometimes  he  claps  upon  his  power- 
ful skull,  now  pretty  bald,  his  inseparable  cap  with 
earlaps,  made  of  soft  wool  in  the  winter,  of  silk 
during  the  summer,  a  hunter's  cap  which,  like  his 
little  soft  hat,  is  a  part  of  his  legendary  appearance. 
Sometimes  he  takes  it  off  to  put  it  on  again  soon 
with  a  light  tap,  keeping  up  the  discussion  all  the 
time. 

A  headdress  worn  in  this  fashion  does  not  give 
to  its  owner  the  air  of  an  old  man,  I  beg  you  to 
believe. 

It  is  a  headdress  which  in  the  course  of  the  con- 
versation does  not  remain  long  in  repose  and  which 
all  the  Prime  Ministers  and  military  chiefs  of  the 
Entente  must  have  seen  rise  and  fall  on  this  expres- 
sive, dominating  face. 

Or,  behold  Clemenceau  pass,  his  step  alert,  reso- 
112 


THE  MAN 


lute,  in  spite  of  his  years,  his  hat  a  bit  cocked  over 
his  ear,  his  sardonic  face,  his  cane  over  his  shoulder. 

He  has  always  been  known  for  this  carriage  of 
his  head  and  his  gait.  Kept  young  by  horse-back 
riding  and  fencing,  he  remained  for  a  long  time 
supple  and  slender.  Age  has  given  him  a  little 
embonpoint  without  weighing  him  down.  He  walks 
less  quickly,  perhaps,  but  still  with  great  precision 
and  sprightliness. 

He  is  not,  he  never  will  be,  an  old  pussy- footing 
parliamentarian.  He  never  turns  his  shoulders  side- 
ways, but  walks  straight  along  in  crowds.  Above 
these  square  shoulders  observe  this  battering  mien, 
this  mouth  ready,  under  the  white  mane  of  his 
moustache,  for  a  sly  joke,  this  merry  and  attentive 
look.  Listen  to  this  vivacious  voice,  at  times  a  bit 
dry  and  yet  very  warm,  harmonious  and  of  a  timbre 
which  stirs. 

Above  all,  follow  his  logical,  persuasive,  close 
demonstration,  so  full  of  new  and  vast  ideas,  in 
which  gleams  his  feeling  for  the  real. 

Ah,  no!  Old  age  has  not  yet  laid  its  hand  upon 
this  vigorous  man  of  seventy-eight  years,  with  his 
clear  thought  and  energetic  look. 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


He  has  examined  everything  within  himself.  He 
knows  where  he  is  going,  what  he  wants,  and  how 
to  increase  his  chances  of  getting  it. 

Then  he  jokes,  he  jollies,  he  disconcerts  and  en- 
chants people  by  his  picturesque,  pithy  sayings,  by 
his  expressive  phrases,  and  by  his  humor.  One 
does  not  find  him  dull  even  in  his  gravest  moments. 

Blunders  exasperate  him.  Solemn  stupidity,  dot- 
ing upon  itself,  adds  some  gayety  to  his  irritation. 
The  extravagances  of  certain  pretentious  hare- 
brained persons  mix  joy  with  his  amazement. 
The  human  animal,  whatever  it  may  be,  always 
diverts  and  interests  him.  And  tranquilly,  with  an 
amused  look,  he  watches  the  comedy  of  the  world. 
But  he  is  not  stingy  toward  the  human  animal  with 
his  cutting  jokes.  What  barbed  shafts,  always  with 
good  humor,  he  fires  at  it ! 

With  a  light  paw  and  with  a  smile,  he  toys  with 
the  lack  of  good  sense  and  logic,  with  weakness  and 
fear,  with  incoherence  he  passes  by,  cordial,  jocose, 
bantering.  And  he  leaves  behind  him  a  wake  of 
striking  jokes  and  prolonged  laughter.  They  re- 
sound still  there  where  he  was,  while  his  spirit  has 
awakened  other  laughter. 

114 


THE  MAN 


Everywhere  he  appears  the  conversation  becomes 
animated  and  its  tone  rises.  In  the  corridors  of  the 
Senate  and  in  the  Chambers  of  the  Deputies  the 
usual  banal,  stupid  gossip  is  being  carried  on. 
Clemenceau  arrives  hiding  so  many  serious  thoughts 
under  his  joviality,  immediately  by  his  radiance  and 
by  the  inspiration  of  his  presence,  he  shakes  every 
one  out  of  his  torpor  and  forces  them  to  come  out 
of  their  dullness.  Faces  light  up,  gestures  become 
more  lively,  clever  ideas  and  brilliant  repartee  flash 
back  and  forth.  The  fire-works  begin,  gay  wit 
sparkles,  the  charm  of  his  mind  has  worked. 
Around  Clemenceau  no  one  can  be  sad  or  dull.  The 
stupid  get  away  as  from  too  hot  a  fire. 

On  certain  days  his  radiant  vitality  and  his  energy 
accomplish  wonders.  He  awakens  in  his  steps  con- 
fidence and  hope. 

Here  is  a  simple  example:  On  the  second  day 
of  the  great  offensive  in  March  against  the  British 
troops,  at  the  moment  that  the  German  flood  was 
submerging  everything  in  front  of  it  and,  through 
a  formidable  break  in  the  line,  was  rolling  towards 
Paris,  with  a  heavy  heart  under  the  impassive  air 
which  must  be  kept  in  such  hours,  in  my  haste  to 

"5 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


have  news  less  bad,  I  entered  the  Palais  -Bourbon 
where  sometimes  information,  not  yet  printed,  cir- 
culates. 

The  atmosphere  was  lugubrious.  No  favorable 
rumor.  Dismayed  faces,  shakings  of  the  head  and 
the  manner  of  people  who  are  expecting  the  worst. 
Except  for  certain  deputies  and  journalists  who, 
controlling  their  anxiety,  were  standing  their 
ground,  how  few  among  the  best  were  showing 
souls  sufficiently  steadfast.  This  ant  hill  above 
which  too  many  black  moths  were  flying  was 
scarcely  reassuring.  After  having  tried  to  react 
against  this  uneasiness  by  taking  an  air  of  calm  con- 
ifidence,  I  hurried  elsewhere  to  breathe.  On  the 
threshold  I  encounter  a  friend  who,  like  me,  was 
happy  to  get  away.  We  talk. 

"Clemenceau  has  not  come?"  I  asked  him. 

"No,"  he  replied.  "He  has  been  away  at  the 
front  all  day." 

"It  is  plain  that  they  are  having  a  bit  of  a  hurri- 
cane." 

The  next  day,  impelled  by  the  same  desire  fof 
quicker  news,  I  enter  there  as  I  go  elsewhere.  Noth- 
ing more  favorable.  The  break  has  rather  been 

116 


THE  MAN 


enlarged.  The  onrush  of  the  waves  continues  to 
shake  everything.  There  is  really  no  reason  why 
the  same  faces  should  not  have  the  same  expressions 
of  sadness  and  apprehension.  Yet  I  find  them  trans- 
formed. Their  eyes  are  clearer,  their  demeanor  is 
more  proud  and  more  resolute.  The  words  that 
one  hears  are  more  confident.  The  atmosphere  is 
better.  I  ask  questions. 

Clemenceau  has  just  passed  by.  He  has  reani- 
mated hope.  His  ardor  has  warmed  everybody.  It 
is  wonderful  that  an  old  heart  has  so  much  youth. 

And  then  the  soul  of  France  is  in  him. 

How  has  M.  Clemenceau  been  able  to  maintain 
his  strength  and  youth  while  accomplishing  this 
formidable  labor  as  a  writer  and  carrying  on  his 
uninterrupted  political  activity? 

It  is  because,  being  a  furious  worker  and  a  sol- 
dier, careful  to  conserve  his  spirit  for  the  battle, 
he  has  always  kept  up  his  vigor  by  a  rigorous 
hygiene.  Moreover,  are  not  work  and  struggles 
pleasures  which  are  the  least  fatiguing? 

Clemenceau  does  not  smoke,  eats  little,  scarcely 
drinks  anything  but  water.  Until  about  1890  he 

117 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


was  a  constant  attendant  at  first  representations  of 
plays  of  a  social  or  literary  value.  For  some  thirty 
years,  except  for  very  rare  occasions,  as  for  ex- 
ample a  dinner  at  the  home  of  intimate  friends 
where  he  hopes  to  have  an  agreeable  give-and-take 
of  ideas,  he  does  not  go  away  from  home  at  night 
and  goes  to  bed  very  early. 

It  is  true  that  he  gets  up  regularly  at  three  o'clock 
every  morning,  and  sometimes  even  earlier.  Not 
having  need  of  a  long  sleep,  he  is  not  far  from  be- 
lieving that  sleep  is  a  prejudice.  Courageous  peo- 
ple, quite  snobbish  that  they  have  gotten  up  at  six 
o'clock,  and  the  workmen  who  are  getting  to 
their  work  at  the  same  hour,  and  in  whose  eyes  he  is 
nothing  except  a  bourgeois  profiteer,  do  not  suspect 
that  at  this  moment,  if  he  is  minister,  he  has  already 
studied  two  or  three  dossiers  and  if  he  is  become 
a  journalist  again  has  written  his  article.  And  what 
an  article!  Substantial,  full  of  ideas  and  facts,  of 
well  arranged  arguments,  incisive,  brilliant  and  with 
sudden,  lofty  flight. 

In  order  to  furnish  him  with  the  latest  news  of 
the  evening  the  secretary  has  them  sent  by  mes- 
senger to  his  home.  They  are  slipped  under  the 

118 


THE  MAN 


doormat  where  Clemenceau  knows  that  he  will  find 
them.  But  how  often  in  his  haste  to  know  of  the 
events  and  to  get  to  work,  thinking  that  he  has  slept 
too  long,  the  industrious  and  impetuous  old  man 
comes  to  lift  up  the  mat  before  the  messenger  has 
brought  the  dispatches  for  him  to  devour! 

This  famous  old  statesman  comes  every  night  to 
look  under  the  door  mat  for  the  news  of  some  event 
which  he  can  interpret  in  the  light  of  his  knowledge 
of  life  and  men,  for  the  instruction  of  his  con- 
temporaries. It  seems  to  me  that  this  spectacle  is 
not  without  a  touch  of  grandeur. 

Then,  when  the  precious  envelope  has  appeared, 
for  three  or  four  hours  he  enjoys  the  delight  of  a 
hard  battle,  in  solitude,  until  the  illuminating  idea 
springs  forth  and  he  hits  upon  his  stirring  phrases. 

After  that,  he  indulges  in  a  half  hour's  gymnastic 
exercise  which  keeps  up  the  vigorous  suppleness  of 
his  muscles  and  insures,  through  a  perfect  circula- 
tion of  blood,  the  calm  lucidity  of  his  mind. 

At  eight  o'clock  the  first  visitors,  to  whom  morn- 
ing appointments  were  given,  present  themselves. 
Busy  men  cannot  avoid  crowding  their  days  except 
by  being  methodical.  Thus  Clemenceau,  exact  and 

119 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


precise  like  all  great  workers,  does  not  keep  people 
waiting.  Try  to  arrange  three  or  four  appoint- 
ments, one  of  which  will  be  with  Clemenceau,  and 
I  am  sure  that  if  he  foresees  you  have  an  interesting 
communication  to  make  you  will  get  an  appointment 
with  him  first. 

As  courteous  as  he  is  punctual,  as  a  general  rule 
he  keeps  his  correspondence  up  to  date.  What  a 
lesson  this  is  for  certain  ill-mannered,  negligent  peo- 
ple who  think  they  can  afford  to  be  geniuses  by 
never  deigning  to  reply.  This  glorious  old  man,  in 
spite  of  his  busy  life,  does  not  wish  to  do  to  others 
what  he  would  not  wish  to  have  done  to  himself. 
So  he  takes  the  trouble  to  acknowledge,  by  a  note, 
the  receipt  of  the  smallest  book  sent  to  him.  God 
and  his  concierge  know  how  his  door  is  bombarded 
with  them. 

This  stream  of  visitors,  which  renews  his  in- 
formation and  gives  him  food  for  thought  at  the 
same  time  that  it  gives  him  the  means  of  a  more 
efficient  control  of  affairs,  always  leaves  time  to 
study  several  dossiers. 

Immediately  after  his  breakfast,  which  is  a  rapid 
formality  in  order  not  to  disoblige  his  cook,  conies 

120 


THE  MAN 


his  departure  for  the  Senate.  Without  neglecting 
its  deliberations  or  the  lobbying,  too  fully  informed 
in  regard  to  affairs  under  consideration,  he  presides 
over  either  the  Commission  of  the  Army  or  the 
Commission  of  External  Affairs  and  leads  the  in- 
terrogation of  the  ministers  with  vigor  and  without 
allowing  any  concealment  of  the  real  state  of  affairs. 

Then  he  goes  to  his  editorial  office,  where  he  is 
glad  to  talk  intimately  with  his  co-editors  or  with 
friends  who  chance  to  come.  He  is  too  full  of  life 
not  to  like  to  have  life  around  him.  He  goes  there 
every  evening.  But  if  you  wish  to  find  him  in  good 
humor,  be  careful  not  to  present  yourself  before  him 
before  he  has  read  the  afternoon  editions  and  re- 
vised his  morning  article  according  to  the  impres- 
sions of  the  day.  Otherwise,  no  matter  how  much 
of  a  friend  of  his  you  may  be,  you  will  only  find 
an  impatient  man  sweeping  his  eyes  over  the  eve- 
ning papers  while  he  listens  to  you  and  furious  at 
not  being  able  to  read  better  and  listen  to  you  more 
tranquilly.  A  half -hour  later,  when  his  article  is 
corrected  and  the  papers  are  read,  he  becomes  the 
gayest  of  talkers. 

It  is  the  same  program  at  the  Ministry.  There  is 
121 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


this  difference  that  the  revision  of  his  article  is 
replaced  by  the  careful  and  minute  study  of  affairs, 
whether  the  morning  is  passed  in  the  rue  Saint 
Dominique  instead  of  at  home  and  whether  there 
passes  through  his  office  a  great  number  of  sum- 
moned visitors  such  as  ministers,  members  of 
Parliament,  generals,  ambassadors,  public  officials, 
journalists.  At  three  o'clock  the  stream  of  visitors 
begins  again,  made  pleasant  by  inevitable  interrup- 
tions of  rapid  talks  in  regard  to  dispatches  and 
decisions  to  be  made.  This  continues  until  Clemen- 
ceau  locks  himself  in  to  work  with  his  colleagues 
who,  summing  up  affairs  in  a  few  precise  phrases, 
know  how  his  brain  works. 

There  are  often  private  interviews  with  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Republic,  whom  Clemenceau  keeps  in- 
formed of  everything.  Once  a  week  he  meets  with 
the  Council  of  Ministers,  which,  since  the  war,  has 
held  constant  meetings  in  which  harangues  were 
kept  up  for  hours.  From  time  to  time  he  makes  a 
visit  to  the  Senate  or  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  when 
he  thinks  that  his  presence  can  be  useful  or  when 
he  has  something  to  say;  but  he  refuses  to  waste 
time  in  the  corridors  in  order  to  foil  plots. 

122 


THE  MAN 


Moreover,  he  has  so  much  to  do  and  the  phases 
of  the  struggle  demand  such  close  application  that 
he  becomes  more  and  more  sparing  of  his  words 
and  time. 

He  always  had  a  horror  of  superfluous  verbiage; 
and  even  during  his  first  presidency  of  the  Council, 
which  he  spent  at  the  Ministry  of  the  Interior,  his 
busy  life  forced  him  to  demand  great  brevity  and 
to  avoid  useless  conversation. 

One  day  he  was  terribly  beset  and  overtaxed. 
One  of  his  prefects,  who  was  short  of  money,  in- 
sisted on  being  received,  and  at  the  moment  when 
the  minister  was  showing  a  visitor  out  he  made  a 
last  effort  through  the  half -opened  door. 

"One  word !"  begged  the  prefect,  who  was  really 
in  need  of  very  prompt  assistance. 

"All  right;  but  only  one!"  Clemenceau  replied 
imperiously. 

"Dough!"  implored  the  official  who  was  sud- 
denly inspired  by  necessity. 

Then,  disarmed  and  diverted,  the  minister  had 
him  enter  and  the  two  men  talked  it  over. 

Another  time  one  of  his  most  faithful  friends 
123 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


who  in  normal  times  he  takes  the  greatest  pleas- 
ure in  seeing,  comes  into  his  office  at  a  rush-hour. 

"What  do  you  want?"  he  cries  out  hastily,  ex- 
tending his  hand. 

"Simply  shake  hands,"  the  friend  explains. 

"It's  done!"  Clemenceau  replies  brusquely  but 
affably.  "Now  get  out !" 

Then,  without  a  smile  for  his  visitor,  he  goes 
back  to  work. 

What  are  his  recreations?  Since  he  has  been 
carrying  on  the  war,  they  are  frequent  visits  to  the 
front  in  the  invigorating  atmosphere  in  which  his 
soldier's  heart  is  at  home.  In  time  of  peace,  his 
books,  with  which  every  room  in  his  apartment  is 
furnished  from  top  to  bottom.  There  are  pictures 
by  artists  whose  talent  harmonizes  with  his  love  of 
truth  and  life.  There  are  walks,  for  he  loves  trees, 
water,  the  great  spectacles  of  the  streets,  and  hunt- 
ing, which  is  an  excuse  for  moving  about  in  the 
deep  peace  of  the  fields  and  woods. 

Finally,  he  loves  animals.  He  likes  to  have  them 
around  him  constantly  and  watch  them.  Their 
beauty  charms  him.  Their  peacefulness  calms  him. 

124 


THE  MAN 


He  likes  their  colors,  their  forms,  their  life.  Dogs 
are  his  preferred  companions.  Their  joyous,  intelli- 
gent, docile  fidelity  is  a  pleasure  to  him.  In  their 
instinct,  sharpened  by  the  relations  and  conversa- 
tions one  has  with  them,  he  finds  more  wisdom, 
kindness  and  uprightness  than  in  the  strange  soul 
of  some  men. 

He  always  has  beautiful  dogs  of  all  kinds  about 
him.  They  are  his  familiar  companions  who  never 
enervate  him  and  whom  he  never  scolds.  It  is  not 
uncommon  to  see  the  watchful  face  of  one  of  them 
through  the  window  of  his  automobile.  During  his 
first  premiership  his  favorite,  a  magnificent  English 
dog,  stretched  out  luxuriously  in  front  of  the  flam- 
ing logs  in  his  office,  received  his  guests  with  him. 
After  certain  trying  interviews  with  narrow,  stub- 
born people,  how  many  times  he  must  have  turned 
towards  his  dog  and  wondered  at  his  good  sense! 

This  friend  of  trees  and  beautiful  gardens  suf- 
fered to  see  the  park  of  the  ministerial  residence 
lifeless  and  deserted.  One  would  have  said  it  was 
the  park  of  the  Sleeping  Beauty  and  that  after  a 
hundred  years  of  silence  there  was  nothing  in  it 
except  emptiness  and  motionlessness.  Tired  of 

125 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


seeing  nothing  move  except  the  water  with  which 
the  gardener  watered  the  lawns,  he  had  the  idea  of 
stocking  it  with  animals.  He  put  peacocks  and 
swans  into  it;  and,  while  he  worked  and  listened  to 
his  visitors,  he  looked  at  the  majestic  walk,  the 
impressive  immobility  and  the  shaded  plumage  of 
the  birds. 

This  was  a  fine  scandal.  The  employees  of  the 
Ministry  were  shocked  at  this  unusual  fancy.  The 
inhabitants  of  the  faubourg  Saint-Honore,  furious 
to  hear  the  monotonous  call  of  the  peacock  night 
and  day,  complained  repeatedly  to  the  chief  of 
police.  A  long  and  memorable  battle  of  ambuscades 
and  cruel  cunning  ensued.  One  of  the  swans  was 
poisoned.  The  chief  of  police  was  on  the  eve  of 
being  forced  to  summon  his  recalcitrant  minister. 
Finally,  so  the  story  goes,  in  order  to  be  able  to  look 
at  the  colorful  splendor  of  the  peacocks,  M.  Clemen- 
ceau  had  to  resign  himself  to  the  removal  of  their 
vocal  cords. 

If  it  is  true  it  is  to  be  feared  that  on  that  day 
our  Premier  may  have  jolted  the  people  who  unfor- 
tunately laid  themselves  open  to  his  blows. 

He  had  less  trouble  with  his  love  for  the  works 
126 


THE  MAN 


of  art.  He  soon  became  a  collector  of  Japanese 
curios  and  his  interest  in  Nippon  was  another  bond 
between  him  and  Edmond  de  Goncourt.  For  a  long 
time  in  his  former  apartments  an  expressive  Jap- 
anese mask  indicated  his  door  to  visitors. 

His  portrait  has  been  painted  by  Edouard  Manet, 
whose  sincere  talent  he  liked  while  still  very  young; 
also  by  J.-F.  Raffaelli,  who  represented  him  in  all 
the  energy  of  his  oratory,  in  the  masterpiece  of  life 
and  truth  now  in  the  Luxembourg;  finally  by  Car- 
riere,  whose  intelligence  and  profoundly  human  art 
pleased  him.  Busts  have  been  made  of  him  by 
Rodin,  with  whose  genius  he  was  familiar,  and 
lately  by  the  excellent  sculptor,  Sicard.  Clemenceau 
respects  too  much  the  free  interpretation  of  an  artist 
to  ever  be  astonished  at  the  interpretations  they 
gave  of  him. 

Finally,  without  disappointment  or  weariness,  he 
reposes  from  his  battles  and  his  immense  labor  by 
contemplating  with  an  eye  sensitive  to  plastic  beauty 
a  few  pictures  by  his  friends,  in  which  he  finds  a 
bit  of  nature  that  he  loves  so  much,  and  a  little 
humanity  and  life  which  he  always  tries  to  under- 
stand better. 

127 


IV 

FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

REASON,  first  of  all,  his  good  sense,  strong 
logic  of  his  mind,  these  are  the  essential  traits 
of  this  great  figure  on  which  we  have  insisted  in 
passing.  The  brain  of  this  rationalist  is  the  clear 
and  vigorous  brain  of  France.  But  M.  Clemenceau 
never  loses  himself  in  abstraction.  He  is  a  strong 
idealist,  a  man  of  principles.  And  he  has  always 
shown  himself  thus  with  the  faith  and  fervor  of 
an  apostle.  He  has  also  a  very  keen  sense  of  the 
real,  an  inborn  virtue  which  an  experience  of  life 
has  greatly  developed. 

He  is  not  one  of  those  who  become  intoxicated 
with  words  and  imagine  a  world  conforming  to 
their  dream  and  their  hope. 

He  believes  in  the  force  of  ideas  and  enjoys  with 
a  critical  mind,  which  is  always  wide  awake,  their 
animating  nobility;  but  he  does  not  wish  to  be  the 
dupe  or  slave  of  even  very  seductive  phrases  when 

128 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

they  have  not  a  very  intimate  relationship  to 
reality.  A  man  who  fights  daily  for  a  little  more 
of  liberty,  of  justice,  and  of  happiness,  he  defends 
himself  against  the  paradise  of  too  positive  doc- 
trines. He  mistrusts  enchanting  mirages,  which 
make  the  vulgar  crowd  exacting  and  discourage  it 
from  effort. 

He  has  perhaps  more  horror  of  dreams  than  of 
empiricism.  Winged  dreams  intoxicate,  empiricism, 
sprawled  in  the  mud  of  low  interests  and  of  per- 
sonal gratification,  degrades.  He  likes  lofty  flights, 
but  on  the  condition  of  never  losing  from  view  the 
nutritive  earth  and  men  who  painfully  dispute  the 
right  to  live. 

He  keeps  his  eyes  fixed  upon  the  future,  for 
which  each  one  is  somewhat  responsible  since  each 
one  of  us  makes  some  of  it  by  his  acts  and  his 
thoughts.  He  occupies  himself  with  the  present 
hour  and  exerts  all  his  forces  against  the  perils,  the 
harshness  and  the  injustice  of  the  epoch  in  which 
we  live.  He  struggles  against  the  immediate  ob- 
stacles which  one  can  hope  to  break  down  by  using 
force.  He  does  not  think  one  has  the  right  to  evade 

129 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


this  imperious  and  thankless  duty  by  uttering  elo- 
quent harangues  about  the  rosy  future. 

Is  this  not  the  secret  of  his  long  oratorical  duel 
with  Jaures,  for  whose  great  honesty  he  always  had 
the  highest  esteem  and  who  in  his  spirit  of  justice 
and  his  sense  for  the  value  of  things  always  re- 
turned his  esteem!  In  June,  1896,  when  M.  Clemen- 
ceau  was  still  only  Minister  of  the  Interior  in  the 
cabinet  of  M.  Sarrian,  whom  he  was  soon  to  re- 
place, I  remember  having  been  present  at  the 
famous  three  days'  contest  of  these  two  men  who 
are  so  dissimilar. 

In  listening  to  his  very  carefully  studied  dis- 
course, of  which  the  very  important  passages  were 
very  plainly  written  out,  as  was  that  of  Jaures 
moreover,  but  which  was  constantly  animated  by 
brilliant,  clever  and  fitting  repartee,  I  said  to  myself 
that  one  could  sum  it  up  thus : 

"You  are  prophesying  on  the  heights!  You  are 
living  in  the  future!  You  are  making  ideal  con- 
structions for  the  future  without  considering  the 
present  I,  too,  think  of  the  morrow,  but  through 
to-day!  And,  with  ax  in  hand,  destroying  the 
obstacles,  I  try  to  make  for  humanity  a  freer  road, 

130 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

where  its  flesh  and  heart  will  bleed  less  in  order  to 
bring  it  nearer  to  better  times." 

Love  of  justice  is  another  characteristic  of  this 
existence.  It  contributes  to  establish  the  unity  of 
his  life. 

Political  justice.  Social  justice.  In  a  word, 
justice. 

Clemenceau  has  sacrificed  most  to  it.  He  has 
fought  for  it  ardently,  in  all  its  forms,  in  every 
epoch.  In  summing  up  the  policy  and  work  of  M. 
Clemenceau  we  have  recalled  the  important  inci- 
dents of  this  long  struggle  of  sixty  years  for  justice. 
It  is  sufficient  to  add  that  in  all  the  stages  of  his  life, 
the  former  deputy  from  Montmartre,  who  had  come 
to  take  up  his  existence  in  the  midst  of  industrial 
workers,  has  never  ceased  to  give  thought  to  them. 

Let  one  re-read  all  his  discourses,  which  are  gen- 
erally documents  of  bold  generosity,  all  his  articles 
and  all  the  pages  of  his  books,  one  will  see  that  this 
is  his  constant  preoccupation.  He  wants  their  work 
to  be  tetter  paid,  to  be  in  conditions  more  favorable 
to  safety  and  health.  He  desires  benevolent  and 
intelligent  justice,  less  physical  exhaustion,  a  better 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


lot  for  them  with  greater  possibilities  for  libera- 
tion. And  the  uplifting  of  the  people  together  with 
their  education  is  one  of  his  cares. 

Therefore,  finding  the  reproach  unjust  and  abso- 
lutely comical  on  the  part  of  certain  men  who,  with- 
out having  more  callous  hands  than  M.  Clemenceau, 
institute  and  proclaim  themselves  the  sole  defenders 
of  the  people,  he  shrugs  his  shoulders. 

He  does  not  recognize  their  right  to  do  so.  This 
preposterous  pretension  riles  him  and  makes  him 
smile  at  the  same  time. 

One  would  neglect  one  of  the  essential  traits  of 
his  character  if  one  did  not  bring  out  his  love  of 
liberty.  For  him  it  is  a  religion.  He  is  the  believer 
and  the  apostle  of  it.  He  is  convinced  of  its  benefi- 
cence even  with  its  excesses  and  its  risks. 

Without  it,  there  is  no  dignity  for  nations  any 
more  than  individuals.  There  is  no  better  guarantee 
of  the  social  order.  It  is  the  safety  valve  which 
prevents  explosions.  It  alone  can  prevent  violence. 
He  sees  in  it  the  very  condition  of  human  prog- 
ress. 

Therefore,  it  is  necessary  to  have  patience  with 
132 


FUNDAMENTAL:  CHARACTERISTICS 

it.  Wisdom  demands  it.  Only  let  us  try  to  accus- 
tom men  to  liberty.  They  enjoy  it  for  such  a  short 
time.  Is  it  not  natural  that,  intoxicated,  they  should 
have  a  tendency  to  abuse  it?  Then  with  patience, 
with  confidence,  let  us  show  them  its  dangers.  For 
the  good,  a  thousand  times  greater  than  the  evil, 
let  us  know  how  to  resign  ourselves  to  the  inevitable 
bad  consequences  of  mistakes  committed  in  its 
name.  Liberty  is  noble  and  salutary.  Liberty  is 
holy.  Do  not  raise  your  hand  against  her !  Do  not 
touch  her  even  if  you  are  unjustly  her  victim. 

As  a  minister  he  respects  her.  As  head  of  the 
national  government  he  does  not  feel  the  right  of 
giving  up  military  and  diplomatic  censorship  which 
is  necessary  against  indiscretions  directly  danger- 
ous to  our  defense;  he  does  not  allow,  in  spite  of 
the  patriotic  apprehension  of  some  of  his  friends, 
political  censorship,  which  raged  so  furiously  dur- 
ing the  first  three  years  of  the  war,  to  be  established. 
And  yet,  like  a  good  many  alarmed  republicans,  he 
takes  notice  of  the  extravagant  abuse  that  certain 
men  make  of  this  liberty  and  of  the  unfortunate  in- 
fluences it  might  have  on  the  moral  forces  of  a 
nation  at  war,  and  on  our  defensive  power.  Liberty 

133 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


for  him  is  a  doctrine.  He  received  it  from  his 
ancestors  of  1789  and  1848.  Personally  he  will 
never  lay  hands  on  it ;  while  he  lives  no  one  will  lay 
hands  on  it  without  a  protest  from  him. 

Therefore,  invariably,  in  all  its  forms,  in  all  cir- 
cumstances, he  has  defended  it  against  its  adver- 
saries, but  none  the  less  energetically  against  its 
friends. 

Listen  to  him  when,  with  sorrow  he  sees  them, 
even  for  impressive  reasons,  get  away  from  this 
salutary  principle: 

"I  believe,"  he  says  to  them,  "that  the  history  of 
the  Revolution  teaches  that  violence  exercised  by 
the  party  of  liberty  always  ends  by  turning  against 
liberty." 

And  on  another  day,  still  more  resolute,  he  cries 
to  them : 

I  "As  for  me,  I  declare  to  you  plainly  and  without 
reservation,  that  if  there  could  be  a  conflict  between 
the  Republic  and  liberty,  it  is  the  Republic  which 
would  be  wrong  and  it  is  liberty  that  I  would  ad- 
judge right" 

And  it  is  in  the  name  of  these  powerful  principles 
that  he,  an  uncompromising  believer  in  the  separa- 

134 


tion  of  State  and  Church,  and  hostile  to  monastic 
orders,  wages  one  of  his  most  difficult  and  cour- 
ageous battles,  for  the  liberty  of  teaching  in  the 
schools. 

And  with  what  nobility  he,  the  unbeliever,  speaks 
of  religious  sentiment  and  shows  the  dangerous 
foolishness  and  injustice  of  attacking  it.  How  far 
we  are  away  from  aggressive  sectarianism,  with  this 
republican,  without  any  other  faith  than  the  virtue 
of  his  principles,  but  so  intelligently  respectful  of 
what  happens  in  the  depths  of  souls,  against  which 
one  is  powerless! 

"Governments,"  he  declares,  "have  no  power  over 
beliefs.  They  can  do  nothing  else  for  a  religious 
belief  than  give  it  a  new  means  of  life  by  persecut- 
ing it." 

"To  the  question  of  knowing  whether  we  wish 
to  destroy  religions,  I  would  make  this  very  plain 
reply,  Gentlemen,  which  will  be  the  point  of  de- 
parture of  my  whole  discussion :  We  do  not  wish, 
we  cannot — and  I  am  glad  of  it — destroy  a  single 
belief,  in  a  single  conscience." 

When  one  has  such  a  noble  conception  of  liberty, 
it  is  natural  for  him  to  love  it;  and  it  is  not  diffi- 

135 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


cult  to  make  one  love  it.  What  is  difficult  is  to 
have  every  one  understand  it  and  apply  its  principles 
with  this  intelligent  generosity  and  respect  for  the 
opinions  of  others.  This  is  the  best  way  to  assure 
the  triumph  of  liberty. 

What  is  also  very  striking  in  M.  Clemenceau  is 
the  radiance  of  his  soul. 

There  are  dried  up  people  before  whom  one  re- 
tires within  oneself.  There  are  cold  and  distant 
persons  who  feel  nothing  or  are  awkward  in  show- 
ing the  little  that  they  feel.  They  leave  a  cold 
impression  wherever  they  go.  Instead  of  exalting 
the  heart,  they  awaken  by  their  egoism,  by  the  cal- 
culated prudence  of  their  words,  only  narrow,  per- 
sonal sentiments. 

He  is  a  burning  flame.  He  is  subject  to  enthusi- 
asm and  anger.  With  his  marvelous  vitality,  which 
age  has  not  affected,  he  inspires  every  one. 

See  the  good  fellow,  jovial  and  bantering,  his  hat 
on  the  side  of  his  head,  his  cane  over  his  shoulder. 
His  black  eyes  laugh.  A  joke  springs  from  his  lips. 
He  is  amused  by  humanity  which  he  discovers 

136 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

and  as  he  shows  this  picturesquely  he,  in  turn,  is 
amusing. 

If  he  is  stirred,  he  shows  that  also  with  a 
brusque  but  kind  word.  His  glance  becomes  grave, 
his  voice  trembles,  and  he  moves  others. 

He  passes  by,  familiar  and  yet  giving  all  the 
impression  of  the  perfect  gentleman.  And  he  leaves 
in  his  wake  sympathetic  animation.  He  speaks  with 
conviction  a  language  so  engaging  that  it  brings  out 
noble  sentiments  and  arouses  confidence. 

He  knows,  for  he  has  only  to  be  sure  of  himself, 
that  such  fervor  is  strength.  In  order  to  sweep 
others  along  to  enthusiasm  and  faith,  he  likes  to 
repeat  certain  phrases  which  have  become  well 
known : 

"One  must  believe,  one  must  hope,  in  order  to  be 
strong."  Or : 

"One  must  love,  one  must  believe.  There  is  no 
other  secret  of  life!" 

Again,  more  sadly,  when  he  sees  the  depressing 
effect  of  skepticism  and  indifference,  he  makes  this 
famous  saying  his  own : 

"The  great  sickness  of  the  soul  is  coldness." 

One  day  at  Saberne  in  his  famous  speech  of  1893, 
137 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


he  rebelled  with  deep  irony  against  the  insurrec- 
tion of  certain  youths,  uninspired  and  lacking  in 
boldness  of  thought: 

"Some  young  men  have  come  with  ideas  of  old 
men,  who  do  not  want  all  men  with  ideas  of  young 
men." 

And  the  youthfulness  of  his  spirit,  of  his  hope, 
of  his  enthusiasm  has  remained  so  strong  that  he 
might  well  repeat  to-day  twenty-five  years  after  it 
was  first  spoken,  this  phrase  of  striking  redundancy. 

Among  the  essential  traits  of  his  character  which 
are  in  harmony  with  the  warmth  and  radiance  of 
his  whole  being  are  his  taste  and  power  for  action. 

His  whole  thought  leads  him  to  it.  He  is  not 
one  of  those  whose  thought  is  mere  contemplative 
meditation.  When,  by  dint  of  study,  observation 
and  deliberation,  he  gets  an  idea  he  wishes  to  live 
it  and  translate  it  into  action. 

His  brief,  concise  speeches  are  already  action. 
They  contain  potential  power  and  are  only  delivered 
in  order  to  direct  this  power. 

Clemenceau  feels  the  nobility  of  action  and  pro- 
claims it  in  all  circumstances.  He  considers  it  one 

138 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

of  the  first  dignities  of  man  and  one  of  his  greatest 
privileges. 

He  looks  with  astonishment  and  with  ironic  pity 
at  those  who  do  not  enjoy  it 

The  weak-willed  and  the  inert  seem  to  be  fit  to 
be  placed  in  hot-houses.  If  they  are  wise  enough 
to  remain  in  private  life,  he  only  pities  them  for  not 
knowing  the  joy  of  action. 

However,  if  with  this  infirmity  they  are  foolish 
enough  to  think  of  governing  men,  he  sends  them 
with  sarcasm  back  to  their  life  of  useless  contem- 
plation. He  knows  too  well  that  the  irresolute  man 
incapable  of  action  himself,  and  believing,  on  the 
contrary,  that  he  has  the  power,  never  plays  any 
other  role  in  his  incurable  softness  and  bitter  envi- 
ousness,  than  that  of  paralyzing  the  action  of 
others. 

He  has  a  strong  sense  of  the  ridiculous  and  the 
most  ridiculous  thing  in  the  world  to  him  and  the 
thing  which  exasperates  him  the  most,  is  the  ram- 
bling of  people  who  talk,  not  only  to  say  nothing,  but 
also  in  order  to  do  nothing,  and  who  happily  im- 
agine that  from  the  moment  they  have  spoken,  the 
face  of  the  whole  world  changes. 

139 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


In  the  forty  years  of  his  parliamentary  life  he 
must  have  had  to  endure  many  discourses  of  men 
seeming  to  believe  that  the  phrase  is  sufficient  unto 
itself.  As  a  deputy  or  senator,  he  never  resigned 
himself  willingly  to  hear  them  to  the  end;  but  if  as 
a  minister,  undergoing  an  interpellation,  he  must 
be  patient  under  this  Niagara,  what  ironical  feel- 
ings, all  the  more  formidable  because  controlled,  he 
has  in  face  of  this  useless  and  heavy  flow  of  words. 

He  is  not  satisfied  with  bringing  out  an  idea  and 
with  suggesting  a  method  of  procedure.  He  is  so 
fully  convinced  of  the  justice  of  this  idea  and  of  its 
beneficence  that  he  hastens  to  fight  for  it.  As  soon 
as  this  method  of  procedure  appears  preferable  to 
others,  he  does  everything  to  assure  its  triumph. 

His  love  for  action  throws  him  into  battle.  He 
knows  the  risks,  but  he  does  not  fear  the  blows; 
and  he  believes  it  is  his  duty  to  engage  in  battle  be- 
cause the  success  of  a  just  cause  depends  upon  it. 

The  pusillanimous,  who  would  like  to  have  their 
opinion  win  out  and  yet  have  not  the  strength  to 
fight  until  victory  is  won,  make  him  smile. 

This  is  the  way  he  shakes  them  in  his  firm  grasp 
when  he  says  in  his  strong,  concise  language: 

140 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

"To  win  a  battle,  you  must  fight  it." 
Hear  this  other  strong  declaration  of  a  fighter 
who  believes  in  the  virtue  of  making  an  effort: 
"The  victors  are  the  people  who  fight." 
At  other  times  a  little  worried  over  separations 
between  men  of  thought  and  men  of  action,  which 
he  noticed  in  France,  he  asked  them  to  knock  down 
the  barriers,  to  spare  each  other  the  dangerous  fool- 
ishness of  mutual  contempt,  to  know  each  other  bet- 
ter and  to  unite.    He  tries  to  bring  out  the  nobility, 
the  poetry  of  action: 

"To  think  is  beautiful.  To  act  is  also  beautiful. 
The  latter  is  perhaps  more  difficult,  because  of  all 
the  shrieking  interests  which  rise  up  in  front  of  a 
new  policy.  Instead  of  excommunicating  one  an- 
other, help  one  another,  you  artists,  thinkers,  men  of 
action.  There  is  nothing  which  cannot  be  accom- 
plished through  the  combined  effort  of  the  whole 
human  race." 

If  he  has  not  much  consideration  for  the  rambling 
talk  of  light-weight  people  who  are  content  with  a 
rambling  chattering,  and  who  have  no  will  for 
action,  he  likes  much  less  those  who  groan  and 

141 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


grumble  without  having  tried  to  remedy  what  they 
complain  about  Nor  has  he  any  sympathy  for 
those  who  having  ventured  into  the  battle,  have  not 
succeeded;  and  who,  instead  of  talking  firmly  about 
their  wrongs,  indulge  in  lamentations.  Jeremiads 
seem  grotesque  to  him,  and  he  turns  away  from 
them  as  being  incongruous. 

Battle  has  sometimes  burned  him  cruefly.  If  he 
has  struck  too  severe  blows,  he  has  received  terrible 
blows  which  he  did  not  merit.  Had  he  been  less 
well  armed  for  the  battle  and  had  he  had  a  soul  of 
weaker  temper,  he  might  have  died  of  it.  If,  at  a 
given  moment,  he  has  been  able  to  carry  on  his 
policy,  it  is  because  of  his  admirable  power  and  the 
talent  which  he  has  discovered  in  himself  and  de- 
veloped at  the  price  of  great  labor. 

At  that  critical  hour,  when  insulted,  calumniated 
and  swept  out  of  Parliament,  he  would  have  been 
excused  for  feeling  some  bitterness  and  discourage- 
ment, did  any  one  hear  him  complain  or  utter  a 
single  word  of  revolt  or  sorrow? 

No.  The  day  after  his  defeat  in  the  elections  of 
1893,  the  former  deputy  from  Var,  anchored  at  his 
table,  proudly  shut  in  with  his  books,  had  chosen  a 

142 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

new  mode  of  action  and  expression.  He  had  made 
a  writer  of  himself.  His  first  article,  superb  in  its 
serenity,  faith  and  ardor,  appeared  forty-eight 
hours  later.  He  set  himself  to  his  task  with  the 
good  humor  of  the  strong.  Even  in  his  most  inti- 
mate conversations  among  his  closest  friends  he 
never  allowed  a  word  of  complaint  to  escape  him. 

Therefore,  as  a  man  for  whom  obstacles  do  not 
exist  and  who  is  inspired  by  the  effort  to  knock 
them  down,  he  reserves  his  friendship  for  those 
who  do  not  abandon  him. 

I  remember  a  young  man  of  merit  in  whom,  be- 
cause of  his  intelligent  bravery  in  life,  Clemenceau 
was  interested.  In  an  hour  of  weariness  and  doubt, 
such  as  the  best  of  us  know,  he  came  to  M.  Clemen- 
ceau, who  was  at  that  time  Minister  of  the  Interior, 
to  ask  for  an  unimportant  position  in  the  city  gov- 
ernment 

Believing  that  the  young  man's  activity  could  be 
better  employed,  Clemenceau  looked  at  him  with  a 
little  surprise  and  sadness.  Then,  with  the  con- 
viction that  his  young  friend  would  overcome  this 
weakening,  he  was  rather  slow  in  satisfying  his 
desire. 

143 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Indeed,  regaining  confidence  in  himself  and  be- 
coming desirous  of  doing  free,  creative  work,  at  the 
end  of  several  months  this  former  candidate  for 
the  office  came  to  Clemenceau  to  thank  him  for  the 
proof  of  confidence  which  he  had  shown  in  not 
naming  him  for  the  place.  The  "Tiger"  gave  him 
the  smile  he  reserves  for  those  with  whom  he  is 
satisfied. 

We  will  only  speak  of  his  proverbial  physical 
courage  in  order  to  put  it  on  record.  No  matter 
how  redoubtable  the  sword,  he  never  hesitated  to 
cross  it  with  his  own.  Taking  his  aim  with  calm- 
ness, he  faced  the  pistol  of  the  most  famous  duel- 
ists. At  the  front,  when  his  contempt  for  danger 
upset  the  general  staff,  he  had  the  bantering  humor 
of  an  old  poilu. 

His  moral  courage  is  not  less.  And  his  energy 
deserves  to  remain  famous  on  the  score  of  being  a 
good  example.  In  the  course  of  his  long  life  he  has 
given  proof  of  his  courage  in  all  forms,  in  all  cir- 
cumstances. But  some  essential  touches  would  be 
lacking  in  this  portrait  if  we  did  not  insist  upon 
certain  circumstances  in  which  he  showed  best  the 
measure  of  his  energy  and  courage. 

144 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

In  a  hospital  he  has  undergone  one  of  those  deli- 
cate major  operations  from  which  one  does  not 
know  whether  one  will  die  or  not,  no  matter  how 
successful  it  has  been  pronounced.  He  is  very  weak 
and  pale  and  lies  motionless  on  his  bed  of  torture. 
He  has  not  even  had  the  strength  to  frighten  the 
nun,  who  is  nursing  him,  by  one  of  his  teasing 
fancies. 

In  this  state  of  great  weariness  and  weakness  he 
perceives  that  they  are  whispering  the  name  of  one 
of  his  very  old  friends  and  he  insists  that  they 
bring  him  in  for  a  moment.  A  half  minute  after 
the  friend,  very  much  moved,  is  in  the  room,  and 
is  ready  to  withdraw  after  he  has  exchanged  silently 
a  look  of  affection  with  him. 

M.  Clemenceau,  worn  out,  motionless,  bloodless, 
not  knowing  whether  he  would  be  alive  to-morrow, 
but  playful  as  on  his  happiest  days,  assumes  for  a 
moment  his  air  of  sarcastic  good  humor  and  in  a 
very  low  voice  improvises  a  wonderful  joke  on  this 
visitor  whom  he  certainly  did  not  expect  to  see.  In 
the  most  picturesque  way  he  jokes  his  friend  about 
his  role  in  the  world  and  a  peculiarity  of  the  town 
in  which  he  lives. 

145 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


We  are  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  tell  it  to  our  read- 
ers. It  would  amuse  them;  but  the  diplomatic  cen- 
sorship of  M.  Clemenceau  would  not  allow  it  to 
pass. 

Then,  with  a  bantering  smile  and  a  friendly  touch 
of  the  hand,  he  closed  his  eyes  in  order  to  get  to- 
gether his  forces  against  Death  hiding  near  his 
bed.  It  is  a  simple  anecdote,  but  such  is  the  man. 

In  speaking  of  the  phases  of  his  political  life  we 
have  recalled  to  mind  the  interruption  in  it  and  we 
have  shown  how  he  found  in  literature  and  journal- 
ism the  means  for  continuing  to  fight  for  his  ideas; 
but  do  people  take  into  account  enough  the  great 
power  that  he  had  to  employ  to  make  this  immediate 
and  complete  change  of  profession? 

Without  doubt  he  has  read  widely.  He  knows 
an  enormous  amount.  He  was  brought  up  on  the 
classics,  the  Encyclopedists,  and  English  sociolo- 
gists, and  he  was  always  too  interested  in  his  own 
times  not  to  know  modern  literature. 

At  this  time  he  was  fifty-three  years  old.  He 
carried  his  years  well,  having  kept  his  suppleness 
and  strength  by  horse-back  riding  and  fencing.  But 

146 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

he  had  never  written,  or  almost  never.  There  is  no 
more  difficult  profession  than  that  of  the  writer 
even  though  one  is  accustomed  to  it  and  has  prac- 
ticed it  since  one's  youth.  This  impetuous  man  of 
action  had  to  get  into  quite  another  swing.  Finally 
his  power  for  work,  his  spirit  of  battle,  his  faith  in 
himself,  might  have  been  affected  by  this  truly 
fantastic  outbreak,  of  which  he  had  just  become  a 
victim,  and  by  the  sly  dastardliness  which  he  was 
too  clever  not  to  see. 

Imagine  the  fearful  tension  of  his  whole  being 
necessary  for  this  transformation.  And  the  force 
of  will  he  needed  to  discover  that  there  was  a  writer 
in  him  and  to  become  a  great  writer. 

It  was  during  this  period  that  Clemenceau  showed 
perhaps  the  greatest  energy  by  winning  his  bread 
with  his  pen,  writing  stories  and  two  articles  a  day, 
pursuing  and  enlarging  his  policy  and  proving  to 
others,  in  this  unmerited  fall  from  power,  that  he 
was  worth  more  than  they  believed. 

It  was  not  a  momentary  impulse  when,  in  the 
excitement  of  battle  and  the  hope  of  victory,  a  reso- 
lute man  gave  his  whole  force!  It  was  for  years 
and  years  the  patient  effort  of  every  day  and  every 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


hour.     There  again,  with  his  unconquerable  good 
humor,  he  was  victorious. 

We  have  seen  him  at  close  range  with  strikers 
becoming  more  and  more  excited  and  on  the  point 
of  becoming  uncontrolled.  To  appreciate  the  brav- 
ery and  energy  of  M.  Clemenceau  it  is  necessary  to 
know  in  detail  the  conditions  in  which,  moved  by 
his  desire  to  hinder  violence,  he  exposed  himself 
to  the  anger  of  the  crowd. 

While  Minister  of  the  Interior  he  had  left  Paris 
in  haste  to  tell  the  miners  that  it  depended  upon 
them  alone  to  avoid  the  presence  of  soldiers.  Al- 
ready, once  before  on  this  day,  he  came  to  Lens 
without  escort  to  talk  to  the  miners  man  to  man. 

They  telephoned  to  him  that  at  Denain  the  excite- 
ment was  getting  absolutely  alarming  and  that  the 
strikers,  armed  with  clubs,  were  beginning  to 
threaten.  He  hurries  there.  From  the  town  hall 
he  harangues  the  miners  and  tries  to  calm  them 
with  his  ardent  persuasiveness.  Nothing  is  accom- 
plished. Their  own  uproar  intoxicates  them.  Then 
he  announces  that  he  will  go  in  a  moment  to  talk 
with  their  delegates  at  the  railroad  station. 

148 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

In  order  to  do  so  he  has  to  cross  the  square,  where 
there  is  nothing  but  this  thick  swarm  of  mad  people. 
The  prefect,  the  mayor,  the  police  try  to  dissuade 
him  from  the  dangerous  step.  The  feverishness  of 
the  mob  increases.  Everything  is  to  be  feared.  As 
much  as  is  possible  with  such  a  man,  they  show  him 
the  folly  of  this  undertaking. 

"I  have  promised,"  he  said  simply.  "We  shall 
see!" 

Moreover,  he  had  sworn  to  do  all  to  quiet  this 
conflict. 

Then,  calm,  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  with 
fearless  eyes,  he  descends  alone  into  that  howling 
mob,  bristling  with  brandished  clubs  and  threaten- 
ing fists.  With  their  eyes  fixed  upon  his,  the  men 
scarcely  leave  him  a  narrow  passage.  He  permitted 
no  one  to  be  with  him.  Alone,  he  makes  an  opening 
through  the  mob.  His  calm  courage  wins  him  a 
way.  Absolute  master  of  himself,  without  even 
setting  his  jaws,  he  advances  with  slow  step.  At 
this  moment  it  only  needed  the  violence  of  a 
drunken  or  impulsive  man  to  have  Clemenceau 
struck  down  or  made  prisoner!  He  maintains  his 
calmness  so  well  that  he  hears  one  of  the  strikers 

149 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


cry  out  in  order  to  excite  his  comrades  to  seize  the 
minister : 

"There  is  your  Bastille  to  capture!" 
Clemenceau  does  not  falter.  His  assurance,  with 
no  sign  of  provocation,  imposes  respect  on  the  mob. 
The  strikers  let  neither  their  hands  nor  their  clubs 
fall  upon  him.  He  passes.  He  arrives  safely.  He 
can  go  to  talk  reason  to  the  representatives  of  these 
excited  men.  Alas!  Reason  does  not  always  win. 
But  at  least  Clemenceau  has  the  satisfaction  of  be- 
ing able  to  say  to  himself  that  he  had  done  all  that 
was  humanly  possible  so  that  reason  could  be  heard 
through  his  voice. 

Do  we  realize  all  the  will  power  which  Clemen- 
ceau had  to  exert  in  his  firm  resistance  to  the  de- 
mands and  threats  of  Germany  in  the  dangerous 
crisis  of  the  deserters  of  Casablanca?  We  have 
mentioned  the  incident  already;  and  we  recall  it 
again  in  order  to  show  up  in  full  relief  the  calm 
power  of  Clemenceau. 

Intoxicated  with  power,  mad  in  its  greed  and  its 
desire  for  domination,  Germany  does  not  submit  to 
our  refusal  to  allow  her  to  take  Morocco,  which  she 


FUNDAMENTAL  CHARACTERISTICS 

wants  so  badly;  and  in  spite  of  difficult  compromises 
she  shows  her  ill-humor  in  trying  constantly  to  pick 
a  quarrel  with  us.  If  the  Pan-Germanists  and  the 
military  party,  headed  by  the  Crown  Prince,  are 
wildly  pushing  on  to  "refreshing  and  joyous  war," 
the  Kaiser  and  the  business  world  still  hesitate.  It 
is  not  because  of  ideals  of  morality  and  right,  but 
because  the  game  was  dangerous  for  a  nation  who 
was  prosperous  and  predominant  in  the  world.  If 
they  are  not  yet  unanimous  in  wishing  to  declare 
war  on  us,  at  least  they  wish  to  intimidate  us.  If 
war  arises  from  the  quarrel  they  are  ready  to 
wage  it 

This  state  of  mind  is  well  known.  Clemenceau 
is  resigned.  With  death  in  his  soul  he  counsels 
prudence  everywhere.  We  are  not  going  to  run  the 
risk  of  covering  France  with  blood  for  the  sake  of 
Morocco,  are  we?  If  the  Germans  remain  intracta- 
ble, we  ought  to  capitulate.  Thus  why  lay  ourselves 
open  to  a  humiliation  which  Germany  will  not  fail 
to  inflict  upon  us,  for  she  is  sure  that  we  do  not 
want  war,  that  we  shall  not  declare  it? 

Yet  Clemenceau  resists.  Many  people  shrug  their 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


shoulders  with  apprehension.  He  listens  to  noth- 
ing. He  holds  fast. 

Hard  responsibility!  Suppose  his  hard  uncom- 
promising policy  lets  loose  the  tragedy? 

But,  well  informed,  he  considered  all  sides  of 
the  question.  Being  convinced  that  Germany  could 
not  want  war  already,  he  did  not  bend.  Also,  in 
harmony  with  the  Nation  which  he  knows  is  trem- 
bling with  exasperation,  he  said  to  himself  that  a 
nation  cannot  resign  itself  to  certain  results  without 
collapsing.  Battle,  with  its  risks,  but  also  with  its 
chances,  together  with  the  honor  of  not  having 
avoided  it,  is  better  than  downfall  and  shame. 

The  outcome  proved  him  to  be  right.  Germany 
bowed  before  his  firmness. 

But  let  us  think  of  those  days  and  nights  that  he 
had  to  live  in  that  terrible  uncertainty  under  the 
weight  of  that  solitary  anxiety. 

Let  us  recognize  the  fact  that  few  men  would 
have  had  the  strength  to  shoulder  such  a  great 
danger. 


V 

THE  PATRIOT 

WITH  his  passion  for  justice,  and  his  adora- 
tion for  liberty,  it  is  his  love  for  the  country 
which  unites  most  clearly  his  life  as  a  political  man 
and  his  life  as  a  literary  man. 

As  far  as  one  goes  back  into  his  past,  one  finds 
eloquent  words  in  regard  to  France  which  are  cries 
of  faith  and  of  savage  tenderness. 

In  1871,  at  the  Assembly  at  Bordeaux,  he  is  one 
of  the  protesting  deputies — to-day  the  sole  survivor 
among  them — who  swear  fidelity  to  Alsace-Lor- 
raine and  who  do  not  resign  themselves  to  the 
separation. 

When  later  at  Versailles  he  demands  under  the 
form  of  amnesty  the  obliteration  of  our  painful  civil 
discords,  it  is  in  the  interest  of  the  country  for 
national  reconciliation  that  he  calls  for  generous 
measures. 

During  the  years  of  struggle  against  the  distant 
153 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


military  expeditions,  it  is  the  worry  over  our 
frontier  which  obsesses  him.  In  his  uneasiness  to 
see  our  forces  dangerously  scattered,  he  repeats  with 
a  sharp  insistence  by  which  people  could  not  help 
being  persuaded  that  it  is  on  the  Rhine  that  we 
must  conquer  colonies  for  ourselves. 

From  this  moment  he  foresees  so  well  what  our 
new  duel  with  Germany  will  be;  the  day  when,  the 
dagger  at  our  throat,  we  shall  be  forced  into  it. 
At  Draguignan,  I3th  of  September,  1885,  he  cries 
out: 

"Do  you  not  know  that  if  misfortune  should 
bring  it  about  that  we  would  have  to  endure  a  war 
which  we  would  not  seek  but  which  would  be  im- 
posed upon  us,  it  is  not  for  a  province  that  we  would 
fight  but  for  the  existence  of  the  country?" 

The  violence  with  which  our  social  quarrels  are 
made  sad  did  not  grieve  him  merely  because  of  the 
mourning  and  misery  which  they  bring  with  them, 
but  by  reason  of  the  hatred  and  the  grudges  which 
they  arouse  and  which  in  certain  tragic  circum- 
stances could  bring  about  a  weakness  of  national 
cohesion  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  By  counselling 

154 


THE  PATRIOT 


a  generous  political  policy  he  gives  salutary  warn- 
ings. 

Thus,  in  1891,  the  day  after  the  bloody  first  of 
May  of  Fourmies,  he  says  to  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties: 

"We  wish  to  bring  about  a  social  condition  which 
would  permit  all  the  sons  of  France  to  respond  to 
her  supreme  call  the  day  when  she  is  threatened. 

"Save  the  home,  save  the  country!  Because,  if 
destiny  does  not  permit  us  to  get  out  from  under 
the  fatality  that  seems  to  weigh  upon  us,  it  is  neces- 
sary at  a  given  moment  for  France  to  find  all  of 
her  children  under  the  folds  of  her  tri-colored  flag. 
What  heart,  what  arm  would  be  willing  to  miss  the 
supreme  rendezvous!" 

At  the  most  cruel  moment  of  his  life,  when, 
braving  the  wildest  attacks,  he  would  have  been 
very  excusable  for  only  thinking  of  himself,  he 
always  thinks  of  France.  Above  sordid  tricks  and 
injustice,  he  rises  toward  her.  In  this  trial  con- 
cerning the  Norton  papers,  which  were  boldly  but 
fortunately  so  clumsily  forged,  he  had  come  into 
the  Court  of  Assizes  as  a  witness,  but  he  spoke  as 

155 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


an  accuser.  And  escaping  from  all  this  pestilence, 
with  what  piety  he  says  to  soothe  his  soul : 

"For  me  the  country  is  not  only  the  soil  we  tread, 
where  we  build  our  homes,  where  the  family  is 
brought  up,  where  the  France  of  to-morrow  is  made 
after  the  France  of  to-day.  It  is  the  community  of 
ideas,  of  strong  desires,  and,  if  I  may  be  allowed  to 
say  it,  in  a  conquered,  dismembered  country,  it  is 
a  community  of  hopes." 

As  a  journalist,  senator  and  minister,  the  sole 
liberty  which  he,  the  believer  in  and  the  champion 
of  liberty,  does  not  recognize  for  anybody  is  that 
of  disarming  the  country  by  a  propaganda  more 
stupid  than  infamous,  by  the  insurrection  organized 
against  the  sacred  duty  of  defending  the  land,  the 
soul  and  the  independence  of  France.  But  he  is  not 
contented  with  stopping  the  blasphemy  on  certain 
impious  lips  and  by  driving  out  the  apostles  of  de- 
featism and  the  perverters  of  weak  consciences.  He 
tries  to  enlighten  with  his  ardent  inspiration  the 
crowd  that  they  wish  to  mislead.  It  is  with  tender- 
ness, with  all  his  faith  and  with  all  his  eloquence, 
that  he  proclaims  our  reasons  for  cherishing  and 
protecting  our  country. 

156 


THE  PATRIOT 


In  the  wonderful  discourse  which,  as  Premier, 
he  pronounced  at  Amiens  in  1907,  at  the  time  of  the 
inauguration  of  the  monument  of  M.  Rene  Goblet, 
he  moved  his  audience  and  all  the  Frenchmen  who, 
the  next  morning,  were  warmed  by  this  burning 
page,  by  this  cry  of  love,  of  gratitude  and  of  pride: 

"If  there  is  a  country  which  has  the  right  to  the 
love  of  its  children  and  obtains  it  from  the  first 
smile,  it  is  our  France  of  yesterday,  of  to-day  and 
to-morrow,  the  France  of  our  proud  ancestors,  the 
France  of  our  good  brave  soldiers,  whom  the  most 
implacable  adversary  has  not  been  able  to  conquer 
without  admiring  them;  the  France  of  our  great 
thinkers,  mistress  of  the  clearest  instrument  of  ex- 
pression that  ever  was,  the  France  of  the  artist  in 
all  fields,  where  free  scope  is  given  to  the  superior 
instinct  of  a  winged  race,  perpetually  in  quest  of  a 
supreme  achievement  of  simplicity,  of  clearness,  of 
beauty;  the  France  of  our  workers  of  all  rank,  so 
courageously  stubborn  in  their  labor,  so  prudently 
attentive  to  the  home,  always  awake  to  knowledge, 
always  anxious  to  become  finer,  with  quick  instinct 
for  everything  new,  and  passionately  jealous  for 
the  glories  of  the  past,  always  ready  to  astonish 

157 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


their  detractors  by  the  sudden  ease  of  their  flights 
toward  the  summits  as  well  as  by  the  spontaneous- 
ness  of  their  sincere  return  to  cold  reason;  the 
France  of  the  great  human  renaissance,  achieved  in 
our  powerful  effort  of  our  revolutionary  renova- 
tion in  the  name  of  the  rights  of  the  individual. 
The  France  of  idealism  in  battle,  by  which  the 
ancestral  treasure  of  all  humanity  has  been  won- 
derfully increased;  the  France  finally  of  our 
enchanted  earth,  garden  of  the  planet,  which  attracts 
and  retains  the  most  indifferent,  by  the  sweet  inti- 
mateness  of  his  welcome,  by  the  grace  and  the 
charm,  of  the  most  lovable  setting  for  human  life. 
Gentlemen,  we  call  upon  our  ancestors  and  our  sons 
as  witnesses,  it  shall  not  be  tolerated  that  this  great 
and  noble  France,  whose  fate  was  given  to  .us  in 
terrible  hours,  shall  undergo  from  wicked  hands, 
irreparable  injury.  We  will  preserve  her,  we  will 
guard  her,  we  will  love  her,  trying  to  leave  her 
greater,  loftier,  more  beautiful  still,  to  the  genera- 
tion whose  duty  it  will  be  to  increase  her  always 
in  beauty." 

This  is  a  solemn  promise  which  he,  for  his  part, 
is  keeping  with  such  animating  energy. 

158 


THE  PATRIOT 


But  while  humiliating,  by  these  words  of  pride 
and  love,  the  braggarts  of  anti-patriotism,  he  wishes 
to  be  convinced  that  they  are  affecting  a  disinter- 
estedness that  in  reality  they  have  not  in  their 
hearts.  He  esteems  them  more  than  they  esteem 
themselves.  He  places  confidence  in  them  in  spite 
of  themselves.  In  the  discourses  in  the  Senate  in 
1912,  in  regard  to  the  Franco-German  agreement, 
relative  to  Morocco,  he  rehabilitates  them  by  antici- 
pation in  their  own  eyes : 

"Rhetoricians,  unfortunate  men,  not  understand- 
ing the  sense  of  the  words  they  are  pronouncing, 
can  slander  their  mother,  their  true  mother,  the  one 
for  whom  they  have  the  right  of  the  respect  of  all, 
but  if  ever  the  day  comes  when  it  will  be  necessary 
to  march,  these  men  without  a  country  will  come 
to  ask  you  for  a  gun." 

The  grave  unanimity  with  which,  on  the  second 
of  August,  1914,  the  mobilization  was  carried  out, 
has  proven  that  Clemenceau  was  not  mistaken.  In 
front  of  the  abominable  outbreak  of  the  whole  Ger- 
man people,  drunk  with  pride,  and  rendered  mad 
by  the  certainty  of  the  quarry,  no  one  lay  in  wait 

159 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


with  doctrines  of  desertion.    At  the  call  to  arms  no 
Frenchman  was  missing  under  the  flag. 

As  resigned  as  he  was  that  France  should  not 
voluntarily  interrupt  her  work  of  peace,  to  retake 
by  force  the  strip  of  her  territory  which  had  been 
torn  away,  Clemenceau  was  of  those  who  never 
believed  in  a  lasting  equilibrium  of  the  world  as 
long  as  Alsace-Lorraine,  so  French,  was  in  the 
grasp  of  Germany. 

Its  annexation,  which  he  had  not  accepted  even 
in  silence,  remained  an  incurable  sorrow  for  him, 
He  thought  of  it  only  with  sadness.  And  each  time 
that  in  the  noble  villages  and  towns  of  Alsace- 
Lorraine,  of  a  character  entirely  French,  he  saw  in 
the  Prussian  grip,  he  saw  faces  no  less  French  of 
our  compatriot  prisoners,  he  felt  that  this  revolting 
servitude  could  not  be  eternal ;  he  always  went  back 
there  with  his  heart  oppressed,  with  as  much  depres- 
sion as  on  the  day  after  the  declaration  of  war. 
We  have  the  following  detail  from  an  eye-witness. 
When,  on  his  return  from  his  annual  cure  at  Carls- 
bad, he  was  traveling  through  the  annexed  coun- 
tries, without  having  time  to  stop,  he  had  himself 

160 


THE  PATRIOT 


awakened  at  dawn  to  salute  silently  our  towns,  our 
cities  under  the  yoke,  and  as  from  as  far  as  he 
could  see  them,  the  spires  of  the  cathedral  of  Strass- 
burg,  which  dominate  so  many  houses  of  beautiful 
French  architecture. 

Therefore,  each  time  in  these  forty-seven  years 
of  separation  he  had  occasion  to  speak  of  his 
attachment  to  Alsace-Lorraine,  he  did  not  fail  to 
recall  their  martyrdom  and  to  express  with  an  emo- 
tion, with  which  he  is  not  prodigal,  the  fidelity  of 
our  memory. 

In  1908,  particularly  as  Premier  and  as  Minister 
of  the  Interior,  he  seized  upon  the  pretext  of  the 
unveiling  of  the  monument  of  Scheurer-Kestner, 
his  old  friend,  to  demand  in  the  face  of  distrustful 
Germany  our  right  not  to  forget  He  did  it  with 
the  prudence  and  the  tact  which  his  high  official 
office  demanded.  But  see  in  these  measured  words, 
in  this  restrained  ardor,  the  intensity  of  his  sad- 
ness and  of  his  hope,  and  the  delicacy  of  his  admir- 
ing affection : 

"It  was,"  said  he,  "the  time  of  youthful  enthusi- 
asm. In  our  hearts  was  rising  the  radiant  hope  of 
the  great  days,  which  through  us  were  to  be  born 

161 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


again.  By  us,  France,  having  become  again  the 
country  of  the  rights  of  man,  was  going  to  find  in 
the  applause  of  fraternal  nations  the  moral 
grandeur  of  former  days. 

"To  the  sincere  invocations  to  this  beautiful 
dream  it  was  war  that  answered.  War  and  crush- 
ing defeat,  war  and  dismemberment. 

"The  armistice  concluded,  Alsace,  in  her  supreme 
manifestation  of  French  life,  elected  Scheurer- 
Kestner  as  one  of  its  representatives  in  the  National 
Assembly.  I  saw  him  at  Bordeaux  when  the  fright- 
ful hour  of  the  great  rending  sounded.  A  friend  of 
Alsace,  he  held  with  all  the  fibers  of  his  being  to 
this  loved  land,  where  the  flux  of  the  orient  and  the 
reflux  of  the  Occident  strike  with  changing  for- 
tunes. He  felt  then  with  a  peculiar  refinement  of 
grief  the  cruel  misery  of  the  mutilation.  He  could 
not  detach  himself  from  France. 

"Several  months  from  that  time  I  found  him  at 
Thann,  struck  squarely  in  the  heart,  but  always 
sweetly  stoical  and  trusting  in  the  future.  We 
called  forth  the  memory  of  the  peaceful  life  of 
Alsace  in  former  days,  when,  in  the  evening,  I 
accompanied  the  family,  in  the  silence  of  the  snow, 

162 


THE  PATRIOT 


to  the  rehearsals  of  choral  societies,  in  this  tradi- 
tional country  of  the  art  of  singing.  There,  work- 
men and  employers,  in  friendly  union,  of  the  love 
of  art,  mingled  sentiments  and  thoughts  in  a  love 
of  the  common  country. 

"Other  times  had  come.  I  made  with  Scheurer- 
Kestner  the  hard  pilgrimage  to  Bel  fort,  Strass- 
burg,  ravaged  by  the  hurricane  of  fire  and  steel. 
The  prey  of  what  feelings?  Ask  your  own  heart. 

"And  yet,  on  these  smoking  ruins,  Scheurer- 
Kestner,  expressed  strongly  his  unconquerable  hope 
in  the  future.  He  saw  France  finding  and  multiply- 
ing her  forces  during  a  peace  giving  opportunity 
for  work,  in  the  patient  effort  of  every  hour,  in  a 
peace  stubbornly  straining  toward  the  reparation 
of  ills,  of  all  ills,  through  the  development  of  a 
democracy  of  justice  and  fraternity. 

"Gentlemen,  I  am  not  afraid  to  evoke  the  memory 
of  this  bloody  past.  Solicitous  for  the  responsi- 
bility which  is  attached  to  my  office,  I  have  been 
able  to  talk  without  restraint  of  events  which  have 
become  history  and  proclaim  feelings  which  we 
could  neither  repudiate  nor  conceal  without  debas- 
ing ourselves.  When  we  render  homage  to  a  noble 

163 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Alsatian  who  has  honored  France,  what  kind  of 
men  would  we  be  if  we  were  able  to  ignore  the 
Alsace  of  history.  No  one  has  the  right  to  ask 
that  of  us. 

"No  doubt  it  has  been  said  that  silence  in  such 
a  case  is  the  best  safeguard  for  a  distrustful  dignity. 
It  seems  to  me  rather  that  our  dignity  would  really 
only  be  affected  if  we  stopped  our  mouths  with  our 
own  hands  when  we  are  able  without  fear  of  a 
malevolent  interpretation,  to  give  rein  to  the  feel- 
ings which  this  day  suggests. 

"All  nations  have  known  in  turn  the  pride  of  vic- 
tories and  the  humiliations  of  defeat;  and,  in  mis- 
fortune rather  than  in  triumph,  perhaps  the  best 
part  of  the  country  has  been  created  by  the 
drawing  together  and  the  fusion  of  souls.  If  the 
peril  of  victory  lies  in  the  temptation  of  abusing  it, 
it  is  in  the  resistance  to  the  blows  of  fortune  that 
courages  are  steeled  and  that  the  forces  of  life  are 
banded  together. 

"We  have  received  France  in  our  hands  coming 
forth  from  a  terrible  trial.  In  order  to  remake  her 
in  her  legitimate  power  of  expansion  and  in  her 
dignity  of  high  moral  value,  we  have  need  neither 

164 


THE  PATRIOT 


to  hate  nor  lie:  not  even  to  recriminate.  Our  eyes 
are  turned  toward  the  future. 

"What  a  lowering  in  our  own  esteem,  as  well  as 
in  the  esteem  of  others,  if  we  did  not  dare  to  give 
rein  to  the  feelings  which  rise  in  our  hearts  when, 
before  this  monument,  we  come  in  contact  with  the 
memories  of  a  glorious  history  of  two  hundred 
years  in  which  our  fathers  have  inscribed  the  im- 
mortal epic  of  the  French  Revolution.  Two  hun- 
dred years  of  life  in  common  at  the  culminating 
point  of  civilization  have  melted  customs,  feelings, 
thoughts,  all  which  determine  a  solid  amalgamation 
of  humanity  otherwise  than  in  the  ages  when  the 
modern  spirit  was  scarcely  in  the  process  of  forma- 
tion. We  have  received,  we  have  given.  Common 
to  all  were  the  joys,  the  griefs,  the  glories  and  the 
wretchedness  from  which  the  magnificent  move- 
ment of  modern  civilization  surged  forth. 

"In  all  the  fields  of  our  national  activity,  Alsace 
and  Lorraine  had  won  an  eminent  place,  and  espe- 
cially in  the  war,  for  at  all  times  the  men  of  the 
province  were  ready  for  battle.  Alsace  gave  even 
sailors  to  the  world  as  the  statue  of  Admiral  Bruat 
on  the  public  square  at  Colmar  bears  witness.  Metz 

165 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


gave  us  Fabert,  as  great  a  soldier  as  he  was  a  citizen. 
In  Pigalle's  marble,  Strassburg  has  kept  the  victor 
of  Fontenoy,  the  most  striking  example  of  spon- 
taneous naturalization. 

"In  the  wars  of  the  Republic  and  the  Empire,  in 
which  France  grew  strong  in  an  incomparable  series 
of  deeds  of  arms,  Alsace  and  Lorraine  offered  a 
remarkable  list  of  warriors,  many  of  whom  were 
of  the  first  rank  and  whose  names  are  inscribed  on 
the  Arc  de  Triomph.  Forty  generals,  a  whole  nation 
on  the  field  of  battle! 

"Great  hearts,  who  with  their  blood  have  made 
our  country. 

"Why  should  I  not  cite  them  all? 

"Kellerman  (from  Strassburg),  who,  in  dying, 
wants  his  heart  placed  under  the  obelisk  of  Valmy, 
with  this  inscription: 

"  'Here  died  the  brave  men  who  saved  France 
on  September  20,  1792.' 

"Westermann  (from  Molsheim),  dragged  with 
Danton  before  the  revolutionary  tribunal,  cries : 
'Before  you  send  me  to  the  scaffold  wait  at  least 
until  my  seven  wounds,  all  received  in  my  breast, 
have  become  scars/ 

166 


THE  PATRIOT 


"Ihler  (from  Thann)  wins  the  admiration  of  his 
chiefs  at  the  attack  on  the  lines  at  Wissembourg : 
a  glorious  ancestor  of  the  young  captain  who  re- 
cently fell  under  the  French  flag. 

"Bouchotts  (from  Metz),  Minister  of  War,  as- 
sists powerfully  the  Committee  of  Public  Safety 
in  the  organization  of  the  armies. 

"Lefebore  (from  Rouffach)  decides  the  victory 
at  Fleurus. 

"Kleber,  ancient  hero,  sleeps  at  Strassburg  on  the 
place  d'Armes  with  the  citation  for  great  bravery 
which  was  to  win  the  victory. 

"The  son  of  Kleber  (from  Metz)  is  made  illus- 
trious by  the  charge  at  Marengo. 

"Wagram  sees  Lasalle  (from  Metz)  fall  at  the 
age  of  thirty-four  years,  covered  with  glory. 

"Eble  (from  Rohrbach)  saves  the  army  at  Beve- 
sina. 

"Ney,  finally,  Ney  (from  Sarrelouis),  left  a 
Frenchman  in  1814  by  the  delimitation  of  the  new 
frontier,  finds  himself  thrown  on  the  German  side 
by  the  treaties  of  1815.  Thus,  when  he  appears 
before  the  Chamber  of  Peers,  his  defender,  Dufer, 
without  having  consulted  him,  can  argue  that  his 

167 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


changed  nationality  takes  him  out  of  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  court.  But  the  man  of  Moskawa, 
trembling  with  emotion,  rises  and  cries  out:  'No, 
Gentlemen,  I  am  a  Frenchman !  I  insist  upon  dying 
as  a  Frenchman !'  We  can  see  his  statue  from  here, 
a  replica  of  the  one  at  Metz." 

Knowing  that  Clemenceau,  head  of  the  French 
Government,  was  getting  ready  to  extol  Alsace- 
Lorraine  without  any  limits  except  those  which  he 
thought  best  to  impose  upon  himself,  we  wished 
to  have  the  emotion  of  hearing  this  discourse,  of 
which  all  the  phrases,  pronounced  with  increasing 
emotion,  and  all  the  implications,  understood  and 
acclaimed  by  all,  gripped  all  hearts. 

While  in  power  and  when  he  had  become  once 
more  a  senator  and  journalist,  Clemenceau  saw  to 
it  more  and  more  that  France  should  keep  her  armor 
and  her  moral  force  which,  alone,  permits  a  nation 
to  defend  itself  well. 

We  have  told  of  the  important  role  in  the  diffi- 
cult struggle  for  the  return  to  the  law  of  the  three 
years'  military  service,  which  Louis  Barthou, 
Premier  at  that  time,  sustained  by  such  eloquence, 
patriotic  deputies  such  as  M.  Georges  Leygues  and 

168 


THE  PATRIOT 


others,  carried  on,  with  so  much  courage  and  perse- 
verance until  victory  was  won. 

Certain  sad  gentlemen,  when  the  safety  of  France 
was  at  stake,  only  sought  an  electoral  platform 
suitable  for  the  caperings  of  their  ambitions,  and 
did  not  take  into  consideration  the  role  which  Ger- 
many was  playing  through  bribery  in  this  trouble. 
At  their  instigation,  some  ill-humor  was  manifested 
in  two  or  three  garrisons,  among  certain  soldiers 
who  had  not  been  carefully  enough  prepared  for  the 
boredom  of  a  third  year  in  barracks. 

Clemenceau  was  grieved  over  it  and  he  scolded 
them  in  a  fatherly  way.  With  a  trembling  in  his 
voice,  he  appealed  to  the  noble  sentiments  which  he 
knew  survived  in  their  erring  hearts. 

They  had  been  talked  to  about  disarmament ;  and, 
in  the  madness  of  a  day,  some  of  the  gentlemen  had 
accepted  the  idea  without  a  thought  of  the  mortal 
peril  that  such  a  suggestion  carries  for  us. 

Addressing  one  of  them  as  a  son  who  is  tempo- 
rarily insane,  Clemenceau  talks  reason  to  him  with 
great  firmness  mixed  with  tenderness  and  with 
gripping  eloquence.  It  is  one  of  the  great  pages 
which  bring  tears  to  the  eyes: 

169 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


"Some  one  must  begin,  you  say?  Not  at  all. 
Two  at  least  are  necessary  in  order  to  begin.  While 
you  are  disarming  do  you  hear  the  sound  of  cannon 
on  the  other  side  of  the  Vosges?  Take  care.  You 
will  weep  out  all  the  blood  in  your  heart  without 
being  able  to  expiate  your  crime.  Athens  and 
Rome,  the  two  greatest  things  of  the  past,  were 
swept  from  the  earth  the  day  the  sentinel  failed  to 
watch  as  you  have  begun  to  do.  You,  your  France, 
your  Paris,  your  village,  your  field,  your  road,  your 
brook,  all  this  tumult  of  history  from  which  you 
come  forth  because  it  is  the  work  of  your  ancestors, 
is  all  this  nothing  to  you  and  are  you  going  to 
quietly  deliver  up  the  soul  from  which  your  soul 
has  been  formed,  to  the  fury  of  the  foreigner? 
Yes.  Then  say  that  is  what  you  want.  Dare  to  say 
it  so  you  can  be  cursed  by  those  who  have  made 
you  a  man,  that  you  may  be  dishonored  forever. 

"You  stop  ?  You  did  not  understand  ?  You  did 
not  know  ?  A  sacrifice  has  been  asked  of  you  heavier 
than  you  thought?  It  was  an  increase  of  effort 
which  was  asked  of  you  as  well  as  of  others  who 
would  have  believed  themselves  unworthy  of  France 
if  they  had  murmured.  Well,  remember  that  this 

170 


THE  PATRIOT 


is  not  enough  for  the  country.  Some  day,  when 
hope  is  blooming,  you  will  leave  your  parents,  your 
wife,  your  children,  all  that  you  cherish,  all  which 
holds  your  heart,  and  you  will  go,  singing,  as  yes- 
terday, but  another  song,  with  brothers,  real  broth- 
ers, to  meet  frightful  death  which  will  mow  down 
human  lives  in  a  fearful  hurricane  of  steel.  In 
that  supreme  hour  you  will  see  in  a  flash  all  that  is 
comprised  in  this  word,  so  sweet:  'My  country.' 
And  your  cause  will  appear  so  beautiful  you  will 
be  so  proud  to  give  all  for  it,  that,  whether  wounded 
or  killed,  you  will  fall  content." 

A  prophecy  which  came  true.  Among  the  few 
mutineers  of  1913,  brave  little  fellows  without 
malice,  whose  disappointment  was  poisoned,  how 
many  died  a  hero's  death  after  having  endured  the 
hardest  trials  for  their  country,  which  they  did  not 
believe  they  loved  so  much.  Under  the  bitterness 
of  the  blasphemies  by  which  they  calumniated 
themselves,  Clemenceau  had  divined  their  true 
hearts.  To  help  them  to  recover  themselves,  he  had 
given  them,  in  a  magnificent  outburst,  the  best  he 
has  in  himself. 

171 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


We  were  still  far  from  the  tragedy.  No  one 
could  foresee  in  what  kind  of  a  moral  atmosphere 
it  would  find  France,  nor  how  France  would  re- 
bound under  the  aggression.  Did  the  most  confi- 
dent imagine  that  in  face  of  the  threat,  in  spite  of 
evil  doctrines,  she  would  be  entirely  thrilled  with 
sacred  enthusiasm  and  sublime  devotion? 

However,  because  Clemenceau  had  never  doubted 
the  French  nation,  admirable  when  it  feels  it  must 
stand  up  for  the  defense  of  its  rights,  he  had  fore- 
seen the  near  future  and  the  magnificent  spirit  of 
sacrifice,  with  which,  singing  as  they  went  to  war, 
our  soldiers  would  dazzle  the  world. 

He  wrote  about  this  time: 

"In  the  life  of  nations,  there  comes  an  hour  when 
a  hurricane  of  brilliant  exploits  passes  over  men!" 

What  a  phrase  to  place  as  the  heading  for  books 
in  which  historians  will  retrace  for  future  genera- 
tions the  martyrdom  and  the  heroism  of  France, 
streaming  with  blood,  but  radiant  with  glory.  Is 
it  not  also  an  inscription  to  carve  upon  monuments 
which  will  be  erected  everywhere  to  our  immortal 
dead? 

With  all  his  kindliness,  a  little  rude  but  efficient 
172 


THE  PATRIOT 


because  of  his  frankness,  he  was  bolstering  up  the 
weakening  souls.  At  the  same  time,  with  an 
anxiety  that  sounded  in  his  voice,  he  was  busy  with 
material  means  for  our  defense.  The  fifteenth  of 
July,  1914,  a  few  days  before  the  cataclysm,  which 
one  felt  was  threatening  more  and  more,  but  which 
one  did  not  believe  so  close,  Clemenceau  cried  out 
on  the  tribune  of  the  Senate : 

"We,  clinging  to  what  remains  to  us  of  France, 
we  do  not  wish,  we  cannot  undergo  the  same  trial 
the  second  time.  It  is  not  sufficient  to  be  heroes. 
We  must  be  conquerors." 

This  strong  will,  for  four  and  a  half  years,  in- 
spires all  his  efforts  in  the  war,  and  explains  to  us 
the  passionate  violence  of  his  attacks,  all  which 
appeared  to  him,  rightly  or  wrongly,  to  slow  up  and 
compromise  victory.  For  four  years  he  has  lived 
only  for  victory.  It  is  towards  victory  that  all  his 
moral  and  physical  force  is  directed. 

The  people  love  him  for  his  jovial  and  warm 
brusqueness  and  take  into  account  all  that  he  has 
done  personally  for  the  country.  Therefore  it  is 
with  entire  justice  that  the  people  in  their  pic- 
turesque and  familiar  language  call  him  affection- 

173 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


ately  "Father  Victory."  These  sentences  were 
pronounced  in  the  course  of  a  half  century,  and  in 
different  periods  of  his  life,  in  most  diverse  cir- 
cumstances and  in  different  states  of  mind,  in  the 
hours  of  bold  and  triumphant  youth,  as  well  as  in 
the  hours  of  terrible  struggles  in  which  his  enemies 
thought  that  they  could  strike  him  down ;  they  were 
spoken  in  regard  to  our  civil  discords  or  in  regard 
to  our  political  battles  for  a  better  guard  on  our 
frontiers.  We  should  have  been  glad  to  multiply 
these  citations  but  we  believe  that  we  have  shown 
the  defense,  the  glory,  the  happiness,  the  prosperity, 
of  the  country  in  justice  and  liberty,  with  the 
omnipresent  ideas  of  M.  Clemenceau, 

It  remains  for  us  to  seek  the  profound  sources  of 
this  vigilant  and  apprehensive  patriotism.  First  of 
all  there  is  as  a  fundamental  element  an  ardent, 
tender  and  always  youthful  love  for  his  native  soil. 
Mouilleron-en-Pareds.  Vendee.  Its  deep  roads. 
Its  marshes.  Its  trees.  Its  sky.  It  is  there  where 
the  old  people,  whom  he  continues,  lived  worthily 
and  industriously.  It  is  there  that  float  ethereal, 
vivid  memories  of  childhood  and  of  family.  It  is 

174 


THE  PATRIOT 


there  that  wild,  turbulent  and  high  spirited,  he  spent 
the  first  years  of  his  school  life.  It  is  there  again 
that  his  sentiment  awakened  in  the  poetry  and  in  the 
luminous  mystery  of  nature.  What  enchantment 
he  discovered  little  by  little  in  the  grandness  of 
nature!  With  what  intoxication,  alert,  vigorous, 
overflowing  with  life,  he  took  possession  of  them! 

"My  joy,"  he  says  to  them  in  one  of  his  books, 
"was  to  run,  to  drink  in  the  sky,  the  wind,  the  rain, 
the  sun,  to  intoxicate  myself  with  the  odors  of  grass, 
to  marvel  at  the  spectacle  of  the  earth." 

The  landscape  where,  in  the  exultation  of  his 
youthful  energy,  one  has  known  this  happiness,  is 
forever  sacred,  were  this  landscape  in  the  eyes  and 
the  soul  of  a  simple  passer-by,  without  character 
and  without  beauty. 

For  a  man  endowed  with  a  little  fraternal  imag- 
ination, patriotic  sentiment  results  not  only  from 
the  joys  and  the  personal  emotions,  which  his  native 
corner  have  given  to  him,  but  also  from  the  intensity 
in  which  he  represents  to  himself  the  similar  joys 
and  emotions,  which  from  innumerable  hills  and 
plains  of  France,  united  by  so  many  memories  of 
our  common  history,  have  brought  to  other  com- 

175 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


patriots.  The  love  of  the  country  is  bora  of  the 
strong  tenderness  which  is  inspired  in  us,  by  all 
these  little  countries.  And  in  his  rude  warrior's 
heart  Clemenceau  has  always  kept  this  bit  of  grass 
of  his  native  land,  kept  fresh  by  the  pure  waters  of 
his  first  memories. 

Thus,  in  short,  he  loves  the  earth  like  a  man  who 
has  lived  in  the  midst  of  peasants,  who  knows  and 
respects  their  hard  labor.  He  knows  the  hardship, 
the  patience,  the  humble  heroism  of  each  day  which, 
so  to  speak,  sanctifies  the  attachment  of  the  country- 
man to  his  little  field.  The  peasant  is  fierce  and 
without  generosity  if  not  without  pity.  That  is 
possible.  But  this  hardness  in  his  feeling  of  pos- 
session has  its  excuse  in  the  constant  hardness  of 
his  effort.  No  respite.  No  security.  The  hail 
ravages  what  the  frost  spares.  From  father  to  son 
without  allowing  himself  to  be  cast  down  by  fail- 
ures, he  exhausts  himself  over  the  furrows. 

Clemenceau,  who,  in  the  toil  of  his  perpetual 
battle,  has  acquired  so  much  esteem  for  the  workers 
who  do  not  give  away,  cannot  but  have  respect  for 
these  silent  but  untiring  people,  ignorant  of  their 
own  valiance. 

176 


THE  PATRIOT 


As  a  child,  as  a  young  man,  and,  during  his 
whole  life,  at  each  one  of  his  happy  sojourns  in  his 
native  village,  and  elsewhere,  he  has  been  the  won- 
dering witness  of  their  perseverance.  He  knows 
all  the  forms  of  rural  labor,  the  demands  and  the 
cares  of  each  season. 

His  experience  in  the  country  knows  what  hard- 
ships are  represented  by  the  honest  golden  loaf  of 
the  French  family.  He  knows  all  the  exhaustion 
and  care  in  the  recompense  of  the  vintage.  He 
knows  the  fatigue  represented  in  the  linen  shirt 
which  the  living  wear  or  in  the  cloth  which  en- 
velops the  dead  for  eternity. 

Do  not  believe  that  this  warrior  of  these  great 
political  and  national  battles  passes  with  indiffer- 
ence before  the  bed,  the  chest,  or  the  cupboard  that 
is  transmitted  from  generation  to  generation!  No 
one  appreciates  better  the  merit  and  lofty  value  of 
this  treasure,  so  touching.  It  is  because  Clemenceau, 
full  of  sentiment  and,  poetical  under  his  brusque- 
ness,  as  much  as  he  is  a  realist,  understands  the 
human  dignity  and  the  energy  symbolized  by  these 
poor  touching  things,  loves  his  country  and  wishes 
to  preserve  it. 

177 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


For  his  mind,  which  reconstructs  tragedies  and 
recalls  them,  war,  invasion,  mean  the  red  flame  of 
the  fire  in  the  thatched  roofs,  the  ancestral  furniture 
on  the  wagons,  going  at  hazard  on  the  roads,  the 
broken  plow  and  harrow,  the  frightened  beasts  gal' 
loping  before  the  wave  of  fire. 

In  his  hatred  of  the  Prussian,  four  times  in  a 
hundred  years  the  destroyer  of  the  rustic  homes  of 
France,  in  his  unconquerable  will  to  crush  forever 
his  noxious  domination,  there  is  in  Clemenceau, 
rest  assured,  the  tender  memory  of  his  native  land, 
of  the  grave  and  meritorious  existence  of  the 
French  peasant.  And  that  is  one  of  the  reasons 
why,  holding  the  incendiary  looting  Boche  by  the 
throat,  he  will  not  let  him  go. 

But  his  patriotism  has  other  profound  sources. 
It  is  ennobled  by  the  highest  ideals.  For  him  France 
is  not  only  his  native  land,  the  country  of  gay  and 
delightful  life,  of  likeable  customs,  filled  with 
memories. 

It  is  also  the  cradle  of  generous  thoughts.  From 
there  in  all  times  came  great  hopes  which  enchanted 
humanity  or  offered  it  a  solace.  It  is  from  our 

178 


THE  PATRIOT 


country  that  the  crusades  set  forth  to  make  the  fra- 
ternal pity  of  Christianity  shine  over  the  whole 
world,  still  savage.  Chivalry  with  its  elegances  of 
bravery,  its  proud  courtesy  even  in  battle,  and  the 
refinements  of  its  worship  of  woman,  revealed  to 
the  astonished  nations  a  superior  civilization. 

Was  it  not  also  in  our  cities  that  the  cries  of 
liberty  first  resounded?  They  grow  stronger  from 
century  to  century,  at  the  same  time  that  the  love 
of  country  is  born,  and  is  exalted  in  our  hearts 
until  the  days  when  the  generous  and  human  aspira- 
tions of  the  French  soul  are  inscribed  in  books, 
which  delight  the  heart  of  the  world. 

French  idealism  has  brought  forth,  among  many 
ruins  and  sufferings,  light  and  liberty.  Without  it, 
what  cruelty,  what  slavery  would  still  exist. 

Right,  so  often  derided,  would  succumb  still  more 
under  brutality  and  caprice.  Human  life,  which  is 
too  often  held  cheaply,  would  be  the  object  of  less 
respect.  Consciences,  whose  free  meditation  one 
would  wish  never  to  be  troubled,  would  suffer  many 
other  injuries.  Finally,  man,  whom  so  many  chains, 
so  much  ignorance  and  so  many  fears  still  bind, 
would  be  absolutely  lost  in  servitude  and  darkness. 

179 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


The  world  is  thankful  to  France  for  the  libera- 
tion she  has  brought  to  it.  Her  prestige  is  made 
of  her  everlasting  and  glorious  efforts  to  free  men 
and  to  give  them  a  superior  moral  life.  The  words 
"Liberty,  Justice,  and  Human  Fraternity,"  are  for 
the  universe  synonyms  for  the  word  "France." 

Is  not  a  striking  proof  of  this  given  to  us  by  this 
war  ?  With  what  enthusiastic  sympathy,  with  what 
pride,  with  what  happiness  people  who  are  free  or 
who  aspire  to  liberty  have  come  to  group  themselves 
about  us,  to  strike  down  forever  a  race  and  a  gov- 
ernment of  oppression! 

Justly  proud  of  her  noble  and  long  history,  of 
which  she  is  writing  with  her  blood  the  most 
sublime  pages,  France  is  loved  above  all  because  of 
the  hope  which  she  has  caused  to  blossom  in  the 
human  soul. 

The  patriotism  of  a  man  such  as  Clemenceau  is 
born  of  the  faith  in  the  beneficence  of  this  French 
ideal,  of  the  pride  and  the  happiness  he  feels  in  see- 
ing our  country  surrounded  by  the  grateful  affec- 
tion of  nations,  because  always,  throughout  the 
ages,  he  has  made  himself  the  disinterested  propa- 
gator of  the  French  ideal. 

1 80 


THE  PATRIOT 


He  wants  France  to  be  victorious  in  order  that 
this  ideal  may  triumph  forever  and  in  order  that 
the  shining  light  of  our  country  may  be  increased. 

He  has  said  it  himself  in  one  of  his  memorable 
speeches  which  we  cannot  neglect  without  failing  to 
recognize  one  of  the  elements,  one  of  the  essential 
forces,  of  his  patriotism.  For  example,  he  says  in 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies  in  1884: 

"We  have  received  from  our  constituents  not 
only  the  mandates  to  defend  the  material  country, 
our  fields  and  our  cities,  but  also  the  great  patri- 
mony of  ideals  which  is  the  domain  of  the  French 
Revolution,  which  is  our  conquest,  the  conquest  of 
democracy,  the  conquest  of  humanity  and  of  right 
over  oppression  and  arbitrary  power.  That  is  the 
domain  which  we  have  received  from  our  fathers 
and  which  we  will  defend  at  all  costs.  But  it  is 
necessary  to  give  us  the  means  to  do  so." 

Later,  in  1893,  at  Saberne  at  a  time  when  under 
a  machine  gun  fire  of  insults  and  calumny,  he  would 
have  been  very  excusable  to  speak  only  of  himself, 
he  keeps  enough  serenity  to  define  his  patriotism. 
Summing  up  all  that  France  represents  in  his  eyes, 

181 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


he  cries  out  in  the  same  spirit  that  we  have  just 
indicated : 

"Let  us  prepare  to-day  in  maintaining  in  all  her 
force,  France,  the  great  sower  of  ideas,  of  emanci- 
pation, of  liberty,  of  justice ;  France,  the  country  of 
men.  Diminished,  conquered,  let  us  take  care  of 
her  forces  of  defense. 

"And  if  we  are  permitted  to  unite  for  an  hour 
our  hostile  arms  in  a  victorious  effort  for  the  coun- 
try, it  will  be  because  we  have  been  the  favorites  of 
destiny. 

"Whether  this  good  fortune  is  given  to  us  or  not, 
let  us  try  to  merit  it  by  placing  above  all  the  safe- 
guarding of  the  soil  of  the  country;  by  developing 
unceasingly  in  the  hearts  of  our  fellow  citizens  that 
which  makes  the  moral  strength  of  the  country ;  the 
restless,  radiant  mind  of  France  in  quest  of  an  ever 
loftier  ideal." 

One  of  the  essential  characteristics  of  Clemen- 
ceau  would  be  lacking  if  in  performing  our  task  of 
historian  we  had  not  added  from  some  of  his 
speeches  to  all  his  other  reasons  for  loving  his  coun- 
try, his  love  for  the  ideal  which  renders  his  country 
to  his  eyes  more  noble,  more  lovable,  more  glorious. 

182 


THE  PATRIOT 


Especially  the  sufferings  and  grief  of  mutilated 
France,  of  which  he  was  the  powerless  spectator  in 
1870-71,  the  martyrdom  of  Alsace-Lorraine  and  her 
great  cry  of  despair  the  day  she  was  torn  away, 
aroused  with  a  cruel  wound  the  delicate  deep 
patriotism. 

In  the  midst  of  youthful  impressions,  of  clear 
memories  and  exalting  thoughts,  this  was  the  direct 
and  poignant  emotion  which  dominated  forever  his 
whole  life. 

Clemenceau  had  seen  our  soldiers  conquered  in 
spite  of  their  heroism  because  they  were  insuffi- 
ciently armed.  He  had  seen  our  villages  on  fire  and 
our  people  under  the  yoke  because  our  keystone  of 
defense  had  been  too  weak.  So  he  had  sworn  that 
he  would  do  everything  so  that  France  could  not 
be  trampled,  drenched  with  blood,  and  put  to  ran- 
som again.  Alsace-Lorraine  attached  to  the  black 
and  white  boundary  post  of  the  victorious  Empire, 
renewing  constantly  in  all  forms  its  proud  protest, 
remained  for  him  a  source  of  grief  and  remorse. 

He  belongs  to  a  generation  for  which,  in  spite  of 
the  tasks  and  dangers  of  the  ensuing  hours,  these 

183 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


atrocious  things  could  never  become  historical  anec- 
dotes. 

Clemenceau,  whose  first  great  political  act  was  a 
solemn  oath  of  fidelity  to  Alsace-Lorraine,  is  one 
of  those  who  never  became  resigned  and  who  have 
kept  with  hope  the  apprehension  of  new  German 
outbursts  and  maintained  the  hope  of  being  able  to 
render  them  impossible. 

The  only  one  living  in  the  parliamentary  world 
of  the  men  who  had  a  role  in  this  tragedy,  Clemen- 
ceau makes  the  new-comers  understand  the  state  of 
mind  of  the  older  people  who,  if  they  have  not  had 
the  happiness  to  reconstruct  the  country,  have  at 
least  built  its  ruins,  remade  its  forces,  added  youth- 
ful glory  to  his  glory  and  have  not  let  hope  be 
extinguished. 

In  the  language  of  the  foresters,  the  "witnesses" 
are  the  great  trees,  rare  survivors  of  former  cut- 
tings, that  are  kept  in  the  midst  of  the  young  growth 
and  thickets  to  recall  the  majesty  of  the  lofty  forest 
trees  which  have  disappeared. 

Ravaged,  but  powerful  and  dominating,  they  rear 
their  lofty  motionless  trunks  above  the  little 
branches  which  bend  and  the  frail  foliage  rustling 

184 


THE  PATRIOT 


at  their  feet.  Having  resisted  the  worst  torments, 
having  seen  the  young  vegetation  wither,  and  die 
around  them,  they  permit  us  to  imagine  the  deep 
perspective,  disappeared  these  many  years,  of  the 
great  trees  which  sprang  up  with  them  and  which, 
like  them,  would  be  ancestors  to-day. 

When  at  the  turn  of  a  path,  their  lofty  silhouettes 
rise  up,  for  some  minutes  one  does  not  pay  atten- 
tion to  the  twigs  of  the  little  trees  of  our  height 
which  sway  and  crack.  The  heart  is  only  moved  by 
the  old  shivering  of  the  "witness,"  especially  if,  in 
our  youth,  we  have  heard  hundreds  of  other  great 
trees  of  the  same  period  now  cut  down,  swaying 
over  our  heads  with  the  same  rustling.  It  is  the 
past  with  its  hopes,  its  failures,  its  grandeur,  its 
pain,  and  also  its  teaching  which  lives  here  again. 

When  Clemenceau  came  back  into  power  he  was 
the  sole  survivor  in  the  Chamber  of  an  epoch  al- 
ready far  away.  When  I  saw  him  mount  to  the 
tribune  and  heard  him  speak  in  his  noble,  proud 
language,  which  had  not  echoed  then  for  so  long  a 
time,  I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  impressive 
"witnesses"  of  our  forests. 

The  new  parliamentarians  who  crowded  around 
185 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


him  had  not  known  the  same  tempests,  nor  trembled 
with  the  same  hopes,  and  anger,  nor  vibrated  with 
the  same  enthusiasms.  They  had  not  come  into 
politics  or  even  into  life  itself  until  after  the  great 
torments  that  Clemenceau  and  his  companions  of 
battle  had  suffered.  The  dismemberment  of  the 
country  was  already  far-away  history  when  they 
entered  the  lists.  Many  of  them  had  brought 
there,  if  not  forgetfulness  and  renunciation,  at  least 
other  preoccupations  more  immediately  pressing 
upon  them  and  which  do  not  allow  them  to  see  how 
far  the  future  of  liberty,  of  humanity,  of  peace,  of 
justice  depends  upon  the  indispensable  reparations 
for  the  rendings  and  the  violence  of  the  past.  They 
spoke  another  language,  and  war,  although  discon- 
certing for  their  dreams,  had  not  gotten  them  out 
of  the  habit  of  speaking  thus. 

Others,  nobly  disinterested  but  prisoners  of  their 
wild  dreams  which  are  disastrous  when  the  life  of 
the  country  is  at  stake,  were  too  dazzled  by  these 
chimeras  to  look  squarely  at  the  frightful  reality 
with  which  we  are  locked  in  a  death  struggle.  While 
they  dream,  unreasonable  and  dogmatic,  they  para- 
lyze the  defense  by  anticipation  of  the  future  peace 

186 


THE  PATRIOT 


with  which  they  burden  our  present  effort.  In  spite 
of  all  our  chances  to  conquer,  the  danger  increases, 
at  the  same  time  that  the  hardest  sacrifices  are  im- 
posed upon  us  to  remedy  our  errors  and  mistakes. 

Thus,  here  is  the  "witness"  of  a  former  genera- 
tion, of  old  French  wounds  and  of  living  hopes,  on 
the  tribune  and  in  power. 

France,  which  does  not  wish  to  die  and  which 
recognizes  herself  in  him,  has  called  him  back  into 
power.  With  a  movement  which  strikes  down  all 
resistance,  she  forces  it.  In  vain  the  frail,  bending 
saplings  make  the  noise  of  their  agitation  sound  at 
his  feet.  His  high,  straight,  powerful  trunk,  car- 
rying the  traces  of  struggles  and  old  wounds,  is  the 
rallying  point  of  the  whole  French  will.  All  alone 
of  his  time,  he  is  silhouetted  on  the  sky  of  torment 
as  if  his  companions  of  yore  were  still  standing 
around  him  against  the  blast. 

On  that  day  listening  to  M.  Clemenceau  we 
heard  the  voice  of  our  ancestors.  By  his  declara- 
tion, his  ardent  cry  of  love  for  the  country,  liberty, 
justice,  the  rights  of  individuals  and  nations,  in  his 
powerful  but  serene  speech,  he  told  us  that,  for  the 
moment,  our  whole  duty  was  to  unite  our  forces 

187 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


more  than  ever,  to  fight  without  discussion  and  to 
resign  ourselves  silently  to  all  suffering  in  order  to 
conquer. 

We  recognized  this  voice  because  we  had  heard  it 
in  childhood  and  our  youth.  With  what  emotion 
we  found  it  again.  Let  him  smile  who  wishes. 
We  are  glad  to  tell  him  our  joy  and  confidence. 
Those  who  formerly  spoke  this  proud  but  reason- 
able language  certainly  did  not  have  so  much  elo- 
quence as  M.  Clemenceau;  but  it  was  the  same 
thought,  the  same  strength  of  conviction  and  of 
hope. 

For  them  the  Republic  was  before  all,  at  the  price 
of  all  sacrifices,  the  defense  of  the  country.  Many 
of  them  had  become  republicans  only  through  patri- 
otic anxiety  and  faith.  But  the  Republic  was  also 
the  reign  of  law,  equal  for  all  and  master  of  those 
who  make  it.  It  was  the  sincere  respect  for  com- 
plete religious  and  political  freedom.  It  was  the 
reign  of  justice,  of  work,  of  talent.  It  was  the 
suppression  of  intrigue  and  favoritism.  It  was  the 
struggle  against  the  arrogance  of  the  unscrupulous, 
personal  interests,  against  all  corporation  power  or 

188 


THE  PATRIOT 


any  reestablishment  of  a  new  feudalism  under  finan- 
cial, parliamentary  or  other  form. 

Certain  deviations  of  these  ideas  had  come  about, 
even  before  the  war.  Since  the  war  they  appeared 
more  shocking  and  more  dangerous.  It  was  too 
long  a  time  since  the  voice  of  the  country  had  re- 
sounded imperiously,  with  such  power.  Honor  to 
the  "witness"  which  had  risen  to  revive  tradition 
and  call  back  duty!  The  Committee  of  Public 
Safety  and  the  Government  of  National  Defense 
have  spoken  through  his  mouth.  Immediately, 
with  the  energy  of  his  ancestors,  he  harmonized  his 
acts  with  his  words. 

There  rose  in  the  battle,  the  "witness"  bearing  in 
his  old  heart  together  with  his  own  ardor,  that  of 
his  companions  who  had  fallen  without  seeing  their 
noble  dream  come  true  but  without  having  re- 
nounced it 

He,  the  survivor,  has  the  supreme  joy  of  keeping 
the  solemn  oath  made  by  all  in  sorrow  and  of  realiz- 
ing the  hope  common  to  all  these  patriotic  French- 
men whom  death  has  mowed  down  around  him. 

History  knows  no  more  wonderful  destiny. 


VI 

THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

THE  eloquence  of  Clemenceau  is  movement,  it 
is  life. 

Instantly  his  clear  thought  finds  the  expressive 
phrase,  and  the  one  which  is  best  adapted  to  the 
audience  which  he  is  addressing.  Its  hurrying 
rhythm  makes  it  all  the  more  striking. 

He  has  a  horror  of  emphasis  and  of  tumultuous 
volubility  accompanied  by  great  gestures.  He  is 
irked  by  a  trailing  affluence  of  style;  and  if  by 
chance  in  the  course  of  a  speech  he  happens  to  be- 
come entangled  in  it,  he  quickly  frees  himself. 

For  his  temperament,  all  that  belongs  to  the 
theater  and  the  old  style  of  acting.  This  sonorous- 
ness, sometimes  very  artificial,  is  far  from  always 
corresponding  to  the  ardor  within  the  orator!  If 
he  is  the  heir  of  the  doctrines  of  the  revolution  and 
if  he  has  received  the  ideas  of  the  men  of  1848,  he 
has  little  taste  for  their  oratorical  solemnity. 

190 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

Clemenceau  does  not  like  long-haired  eloquence. 
His  own  eloquence  wears,  as  he  does,  short  hair. 
Therefore,  one  sees  better  the  vigorous  bone  struc- 
ture and  the  form  of  its  powerful  skull  is  outlined 
more  clearly. 

His  terse,  tense  sentences,  go  straight  to  the  tar- 
get like  an  arrow.  They  are  not  encumbered  with 
epithets.  Strong,  short,  stripped  of  useless  words, 
they  contain  only  the  words  necessary  for  the  ex- 
pression of  the  idea.  Moreover,  each  discourse  is, 
as  a  whole,  carefully  arranged  and  put  together, 
which  produces  a  great  effect  on  the  mind. 

One  can  say  that  a  speech  of  Clemenceau's  con- 
sists of  reason  with  just  enough  substance  in  order 
to  live  and  to  influence  and  to  endure. 

There  is  no  dryness  in  this  strong  soberness. 
There  is  no  grandiloquence,  but  restrained  ardor 
which  burns  underneath  his  words,  an  inner  flame 
which  gleams  brightly.  More  than  by  the  sound 
of  words,  it  is  manifested  by  rigorous  logic,  by 
resolute  accents.  There  is  a  swift  movement  which, 
together  with  the  sudden  improvisation  and  the  flash 
of  brilliant  repartee,  burst  like  a  thunderbolt  through 
his  closely  knit  arguments. 

191 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Clemenceau  is  certainly  vivacious  and  impetuous 
in  his  gestures.  On  the  tribune,  as  in  the  corridors, 
in  his  editorial  office,  in  a  drawing  room,  he  is  a 
conversationalist  who  is  full  of  life.  He  keeps  in 
touch  with  his  auditors,  rebelling  at  interruptions 
even  when  he  wants  to  appear  to  be  listening. 

But  he  is  one  of  these  orators  who,  talking  with 
his  arms  at  rest  or  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets, 
have  their  oratorical  effect  rather  in  their  look,  their 
facial  expression  and  in  the  compressed  energy  of 
what  they  are  saying. 

He  walks  up  and  down,  master  of  himself,  atten- 
tive to  the  least  motion  in  the  room,  never  losing 
sight  of  the  aim  of  his  vigorous  demonstration,  even 
when  he  seems  to  allow  himself  to  be  diverted  for  a 
second  by  trifles  along  the  way. 

His  hand  rests  for  a  moment  on  his  portfolio,  if 
it  is  with  him,  or  runs  along  the  cover  of  the  tribune 
ivhile  he  walks  with  calm  steps  as  he  pursues  his 
tense  discourse. 

At  a  remark  thrown  out  by  an  innocent  who  does 
not  know  the  danger  of  such  imprudence,  he  turns, 
sarcastic  and  quick  to  reply.  Laughter  ripples,  and 
undisturbed,  as  if  he  were  not  concerned  with  these 

192 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

fireworks,  which  he  has  fired  off,  he  takes  up  his 
demonstration  with  a  gleam  of  amusement  in  his 
eyes. 

If  the  interrupter  is  wordy,  and  if  Clemenceau 
does  not  mind  allowing  him  to  get  into  a  fix,  he 
puts  his  hands  down  deep  in  his  pockets,  leans  up 
against  the  desk  until  the  uncontrolled  talker  has 
finished  his  observations.  Moreover,  he  does  not 
lose  anything  by  waiting.  The  reply  will,  as  always, 
be  courteous.  But  generally  it  does  not  put  the 
laughter  on  the  side  of  the  imprudent  gentleman. 
The  penalty  that  he  must  pay  is  almost  always  in 
proportion  to  the  length  of  his  palaver. 

He  also  has  the  art  of  putting  an  end,  by  a  re- 
partee covering  the  whole  case,  to  the  quick  fire 
interruptions  which  spring  forth  all  at  once  from 
a  whole  group.  Thus,  one  day  when  the  socialists 
were  pretty  well  aroused  and  were  chopping  up  his 
carefully  prepared  speeches  with  their  violent  re- 
marks, he  calmed  them  down  with  this  sly  dig: 
"Be  careful  of  arousing  too  much  fear,  lest  in  the 
future  city  people  may  be  intolerant !" 

The  interrupters  were  the  first  to  smile  and  hence- 
forth abstained  from  troublesome  remarks. 

193 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


If  he  hears  some  curious  thing  which  astonishes 
him  or  if  he  remembers  an  illogical  or  incoherent 
fact,  a  piece  of  foolishness  or  wild  dream,  Clemen- 
ceau,  as  a  man  into  whose  brain  such  nonsense  can- 
not enter,  makes  his  well  known  gesture  of  stupefac- 
tion in  the  face  of  such  extravagance,  by  holding  up 
his  outstretched  hands  as  high  as  his  head. 

Then  with  his  cutting  and  yet  animated  voice  he 
demonstrates,  chides,  demands.  With  all  the 
authority  of  his  clear  thought,  he  holds  people  bowed 
under  the  force  of  his  arguments.  At  these  mo- 
ments you  could  hear  a  pin  drop.  Clemenceau 
straightens  up,  throws  back  his  head  and  fixes  his 
eyes  on  his  auditors.  He  pays  no  attention  to  the 
interruptions  thrown  at  him.  With  his  accustomed 
gesture  of  emphatically  pointing  his  forefinger  down 
at  the  crowd,  he  plants  his  reasons  in  the  heads  of 
the  listeners. 

On  the  tribune  he  constantly  gives  an  impression 
of  great  clearness  and  unrelenting  logic  together 
with  an  impression  of  absolute  control  over  him- 
self, of  an  ease,  which  nothing  disconcerts,  and  of 
good  humor.  One  feels  that  he  likes  this  lively 
battle  of  ideas,  that  his  fencing,  with  its  sudden  and 

194 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

unforeseen  thrusts,  amuses  him,  because  of  all  his 
natural  gifts  which  it  gives  him  a  chance  to  exer- 
cise. 

This  rapid,  sober  eloquence,  with  its  striking 
logic,  is,  moreover,  very  beautiful  in  its  concise 
strength.  It  has  the  nervous  beauty  of  the  im- 
petuous thoroughbred,  the  strong  beauty  of  a 
weapon  of  battle.  His  are  speeches  which  bear  re- 
reading. 

The  dramatist,  Henri  Becque,  whose  human  plays 
retain  all  their  interest  in  the  study,  far  from  the 
stage,  used  to  say:  "The  best  drama  is  the  drama 
of  the  library."  He  meant  a  drama  which  can  bear 
reading.  The  same  is  true  of  oratory.  Speeches 
can  please  by  their  animation  and  physical  charms, 
such  as  the  voice,  gesture,  and  bearing  of  the  orator. 
But  how  many  of  them  out  of  the  atmosphere  in 
which  they  were  pronounced  and  which  helped  their 
success,  do  not  bear  reading  because  of  their  poverty 
of  expression,  their  loose  unordered  construction, 
and  their  redundant  banality.  Clemenceau's 
speeches  are  well  rounded  out  and  well  arranged. 
His  sentences,  never  weighed  down  by  epithets,  are 
strong  in  their  striking  nakedness. 

195 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Also,  hurried  as  he  is  to  arrive  at  his  goal  through 
his  close  arguments  and  by  expressive,  pithy  say- 
ings, a  speech  of  Clemenceau's  at  whatever  period 
it  was  delivered,  is  always  rich  in  substance  and 
ideas.  All  his  observations  are  summed  up  in  a 
few  words,  in  a  way  not  to  slow  down  the  quick 
movement  of  his  demonstration;  but  they  reveal 
vast  culture,  knowledge  of  history,  meditation  over 
the  works  of  social  philosophy,  and  the  discipline 
of  an  intense  pondering  over  the  great  problems  of 
yesterday,  to-day  and  forever. 

An  evolution  took  place  in  his  eloquence  when 
Clemenceau,  deprived  of  the  tribune  for  the  time 
being,  began  to  mold  his  thought  by  writing.  Up 
to  that  time  his  form  of  expression  had  been  very 
familiar. 

His  eloquence  remains  full  of  life,  incisive  and  of 
a  keen  logic.  It  retains  its  quickness,  its  sharpness, 
and  the  persuasive  power  of  a  strong  and  rapid 
dialectic.  However,  in  certain  passages  of  a  com- 
plex shade,  one  feels  that  the  orator  assumes  the 
habit,  even  when  he  is  speaking,  of  hunting  for  the 
written  form  of  his  idea.  He  is  no  longer  satisfied 

196 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

with  a  speech  which  would  only  be  a  brief,  brutal 
bit  of  sword  play. 

A  man  of  action,  of  course  he  cares  above  all  for 
the  goal  he  wishes  to  reach  and  the  influence  he 
wishes  to  exercise.  He  loses  nothing  of  his  inex- 
orable logic,  of  his  brilliant  irony,  of  his  precious 
gift  of  rebounding  under  interruptions  which  he 
answers  with  a  phrase  and  without  stopping.  But 
he  is  glad  to  allow  the  philosophical  and  social  rea- 
sons of  his  ideas  to  appear. 

His  speeches,  from  this  time  on,  perhaps  have 
not,  in  certain  passages  at  least,  this  naked  force 
which  made  them  so  impressive.  Their  movement 
is  not  so  quick.  But,  as  a  compensation,  what  ful- 
ness, what  richness  is  found  in  them! 

By  refinements  and  subtleties,  by  the  construction 
of  sentences,  by  scholarly  perspectives  of  words  and 
thoughts,  which  cannot  deceive  writers,  one  recog- 
nizes the  work  of  a  pen,  made,  surely,  with  a  rare 
quickness  of  composition,  but  without  which  the 
sentence  cannot  possess  color  or  high  relief.  It  has 
not  been  learned  by  heart  like  certain  stock  phrases 
of  some  of  our  most  brilliant  orators ;  but  one  can- 
not doubt  that  it  has  been  written  and  that  the 

197 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


essential  part  of  its  structure  must  remain  in  the 
mind  of  the  speaker. 

Even  in  this  new  and  enriched  style,  Clemenceau 
is  not  one  of  these  orators  who,  troubled  by  the  idea 
of  an  impeccable  unfolding  of  their  speech  com- 
mitted to  memory,  walk  right  along  as  if  on  a  tight 
rope,  too  much  preoccupied  with  their  feat  to  notice 
the  thrills  of  the  audience  and  to  reply  to  them. 

His  speeches  are  carefully  studied  and  of  a  rare 
loftiness  of  view;  but  their  careful  preparation  does 
not  disturb  his  accustomed  ease  or  the  timeliness 
of  his  brilliant  fancy. 

Let  an  interruption  be  made,  and  immediately,  if 
it  deserves  a  reply,  ihe  fencer  on  the  tribune,  stop- 
ping most  carefully  thought-out  oratorical  periods, 
protects  himself  with  a  clever  or  caustic  parry. 
Then  with  perfect  freedom  of  mind,  he  takes  up  his 
demonstration,  so  effective  by  the  nobility  of  his 
idea  and  the  brilliancy  of  his  words. 

Since  the  time  when  the  writer  has  made  the  im- 
pression on  the  orator,  Clemenceau,  as  Minister  and 
twice  as  Premier,  has  had  occasion  to  pronounce, 
at  memorable  ceremonies,  certain  written  dis- 

198 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

courses  of  magnificent  oratorical  movement  and  of 
.a  striking  depth  of  thought  which  are  masterpieces 
of  literary  eloquence. 

If  he  is  placed  upon  the  tribune  by  popular  ac- 
clamation as  during  the  manifestation  in  honor  of 
Alsace-Lorraine  or  is  forced  by  the  sudden  turn  of 
events  in  the  war  to  speak  in  the  Senate  or  in  the 
Chamber,  immediately,  the  orator,  forgetting  the 
writer,  finds  again  all  his  gifts  as  a  powerful  im- 
promptu speaker. 

He  knows  how  to  be  in  turn  familiar  and  pathetic 
through  his  sober  intensity.  With  his  voice,  heavy 
but  pleasing  in  its  quality  and  emotion,  when  he 
wishes,  he  rises  to  the  most  gripping  lyricism  of 
expression  and  thought. 

Thus,  one  day  in  the  autumn  of  1918  after 
M.  Paul  Deschanel's  spirited  speech,  paying  homage 
to  our  victorious  soldiers  and  inspiring  greatest 
hopes  in  all  French  hearts,  he  paraphrased  with  a 
burning  ardor,  the  song  of  the  Marseillaise.  Trans- 
ported by  the  spirit  of  this  wonderful  improvisation, 
the  deputies  leapt  to  their  feet  and  broke  out  into 
thunderous  applause. 

199 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


In  movement  and  in  life  the  orator  is  like  the 
writer. 

With  his  pen  in  his  hand,  Clemenceau  preserves 
his  clear,  close  logic,  his  picturesque,  terse  power  of 
expression. 

His  articles  are  generally  long  and  cannot  be 
shortened  because  they  are  very  substantial.  But 
the  sentence  is  almost  always  brief,  sinewy  and  in 
high  relief. 

With  Clemenceau,  the  warrior,  the  discussion  of 
ideas  is  often  adorned  with  fillips  on  the  noses  of 
his  adversaries.  In  hot  discussions,  his  flashing 
irony  illuminates  the  most  difficult  train  of  reason- 
ing, and  adds  a  great  attraction. 

In  front  of  his  blank  paper,  he  keeps  his  good 
humor.  He  shoots  his  arrows  with  a  kind  of  jovi- 
ality. He  scratches  in  joking.  His  laughter,  even 
when  very  malign,  lessens  the  sting.  One  guesses 
the  most  of  the  time  that,  when  once  his  feelings 
are  relieved,  he  is  ready  to  hold  no  grudge  against 
the  people  he  has  handled  roughly.  This  is  very 
rare  in  battle,  for  there  are  people  who  get  angry 
in  proportion  as  they  strike,  and  growing  wild  in 

200 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

the  slaughter  feel  their  hatred  increase  against  the 
men  that  are  violently  attacking. 

That  which  distinguishes  Clemenceau's  pages 
from  the  pamphlets  of  certain  other  polemicists, 
even  of  great  talent,  is  their  fulness. 

Very  often  articles  of  this  kind  are  brilliant,  but 
empty.  The  word  replaces  the  idea.  On  the  other 
hand  their  authors  do  not  have  to  fret  about  pre- 
senting new  arguments.  Since  the  public  is  gen- 
erally convinced  and  follows  them  passionately,  it 
only  desires  one  thing:  the  repetition  of  the  same 
theme  with  variations  as  long  as  their  frenzy  lasts. 

The  articles  which  Clemenceau  has  published 
every  day  for  twenty-five  years  are,  on  the  con- 
trary, astonishingly  diversified.  Far  from  inter- 
esting only  by  humorous  sarcasms,  all  offer,  in  ad- 
dition, the  attraction  of  a  noble  and  generous 
philosophy,  of  profoundly  human  thoughts,  and  of 
well  arranged  reasoning. 

They  are  doctrinal  articles  which  become,  acces- 
sorily  in  the  course  of  the  discussion,  polemical 
articles.  Clemenceau  is  a  fighter  for  an  idea,  but 
not  a  pamphleteer. 

When  one  reads  him  regularly  for  a  certain  num- 
201 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


her  of  years,  one  admires  not  only  his  strong  argu- 
ments and  his  wit,  but  also  his  vast  knowledge  of 
the  world  of  ideas,  his  feeling  for  life  and  history, 
the  loftiness  of  his  views. 

The  least  event  of  the  day — an  incident  in  the 
street  or  in  Parliament,  the  scandal  which  is  ex- 
posed or  condemned,  the  latest  book  or  an  exposi- 
tion being  held — is  a  reason  for  him  to  philosophize. 
Without  pedantry,  and  only  by  discussing  it  in  a 
wide-awake,  striking  manner,  he  lets  appear  all 
that  he  has  read  or  seen,  all  that  he  knows,  and  the 
grave  meditations  of  a  lucid,  powerful  brain  always 
at  work. 

It  happens  that  too  much  philosophy  leads  this 
clear,  sober  talent  into  a  little  too  much  abstraction, 
sometimes  confused  and  in  a  less  felicitous  form. 
These  are  the  defects  of  very  noble  qualities.  One 
cannot  complain,  because  we  owe  so  many  pro- 
found, luminous  pages  to  that  ardent  interrogation 
of  his  thoughts. 

To  this  worship  of  reason  and  this  passion  for 
the  free  play  of  ideas  which  come  from  his  family 
education  and  his  reading,  are  joined  his  sensitive- 
ness to  nature  and  his  curiosity,  sometimes  tender, 

202 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

sometimes  amused,  often  indignant,  in  regard  to  the 
human  comedy.  This  is  the  result  of  his  contact 
in  the  city  and  in  the  fields,  with  numberless  men  of 
all  social  classes,  of  all  opinions,  of  all  countries. 

M.  Clemenceau  has  shown  these  precious  literary 
qualities  in  his  stories  and  in  the  pages  of  his  ro- 
mance, Les  plus  Forts.  For,  if  he  has  written  many 
cutting  and  persuasive  articles  on  the  political  situa- 
tion, if  he  has  carried  on  many  resounding  cam- 
paigns in  which  his  concise  logic  and  his  power  of 
discussion  were  employed,  there  is  a  large  part  of 
his  work,  which,  more  serene  but  full  of  life,  is  an 
evocation  of  nature  and  humanity. 

Although  very  different  from  the  other  writings 
of  M.  Clemenceau  it  is  in  close  relationship  with 
them,  because,  the  picturesque  stories,  moving  and 
full  of  pity  underneath,  the  direct  irony,  were  born 
of  the  same  social  philosophy,  of  the  same  generous 
inspiration  and  contributed  in  establishing  in  Cle- 
menceau the  perfect  unity  of  thought  and  action 
under  the  different  forms  in  which  it  is  manifested. 

Attentive  to  the  spectacles  of  nature  and  to  the 
actions  of  men  as  he  is  curious  about  ideas  and 
wrapped  up  in  history,  his  clear  brain  has  been  fed 

203 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


on  our  classic  authors  whose  solid  reason  and 
knowledge  of  the  human  heart,  and  whose  unerring 
judgment  enchanted  his  spirit.  He  was  steeped  in 
the  masters  of  the  i8th  century  who  are  dear  to 
him  because  of  their  free  criticism,  their  independ- 
ence of  mind  and  their  generous  aspirations.  He 
followed  carefully  the  works  of  the  English  soci- 
ologists and  the  works  of  the  French  socialists  of 
the  middle  of  the  iQth  century,  so  fraternal  and  so 
sincerely  desirous  of  concord  and  harmony. 

His  language,  original  as  it  may  be  and  so  faith- 
ful in  its  expression  of  a  clear-cut  character,  under- 
goes a  different  influence.  His  thought  bears  the 
mark  of  it. 

The  good  sense,  the  healthy  morals,  the  firm 
honesty  of  our  classicists  and  their  vigor  have 
strengthened  his  passion  for  truth,  his  pressing 
need  for  frankness  and  clearness,  his  revolt  against 
all  that  is  hypocritical,  soft  and  unreasonable,  and 
have  increased  his  uneasiness  in  the  face  of  chimeras 
and  mental  disorders. 

He  is  still  more  directly  related  to  the  encyclo- 
pedists, to  the  great  prophets  and  men  who  pre- 
pared the  modern  world. 

204 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

Curious  about  ideas,  stirred  by  plastic  arts  as  well 
as  by  the  theater  and  literature,  taken  up  with  phil- 
osophy as  well  as  with  social  problems,  as  he  fences 
in  the  political  battles,  he  has  the  effervescence  of  a 
Diderot. 

Everything  interests  him  powerfully.  In  his 
mind  there  are  no  barriers  between  the  fields  of  his 
knowledge.  All  the  forms  of  creative  activity  are 
correlated  in  him.  He  has  ideas  on  everything.  He 
feels  the  need  of  immediately  having  his  say  on 
everything  and  a  certain  happiness  in  being  heard. 

Then,  like  the  writers  of  the  i8th  century,  he  is 
in  love  with  liberty,  right,  justice.  Like  them  he  is 
an  optimist.  He  believes  in  progress,  in  knowledge 
as  a  beneficent  teacher,  in  the  amelioration  by  her  of 
the  lot  of  men. 

If  a  few  people  astonish  and  irritate  him — while 
amusing  him — by  their  incoherence  and  their  lazi- 
ness of  mind,  he  has  confidence  in  human  reason, 
in  the  future  of  humanity.  It  is  optimism  and 
confidence  which  increase  his  power  for  action. 

He  has  the  passion,  the  impetuosity,  the  fluttering 
of  a  Diderot — but  of  a  more  active  Diderot.  At 
the  same  time  one  finds  in  his  pages  something  of 

205 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


an  after-taste  of  the  irony  of  Voltaire  and  a  little 
of  his  withering  smile,  with  more  joviality  in  his 
observation  of  human  defects. 

Let  us  add  to  this,  the  influence  of  certain  mas- 
ters of  the  last  century.  For  example,  as  affirma- 
tive as  Clemenceau  is  in  his  precise  rigorous 
opinions,  does  not  one  find  in  his  independence  and 
boldness,  in  the  face  of  no  matter  what  problem, 
the  subtle  freedom  of  mind  of  a  Renan?  In  his 
short  sentences,  striking  in  their  pithiness,  is  there 
'not  sometimes  a  recollection  of  Victor  Hugo?  Fi- 
nally in  Clemenceau's  most  burning  pages,  which  he 
writes  in  critical  hours,  under  the  impulse  of  a 
strong  emotion,  do  not  his  restrained  exaltations, 
his  alarmed  patriotism,  his  fraternal  glow  recall 
somewhat  the  lyricism  of  iMichelet  speaking  of 
France  and  the  country? 

Thus  appears  the  literary  filiation,  in  thought  and 
form,  of  this  statesman  who  became  a  writer  and 
remained  a  man  of  action  in  his  study.  It  is  plain 
that,  if  our  impressions  as  a  reader  are  correct,  he 
is  of  a  great  lineage. 

Through  all  these  distant  formative  influences, 
which  only  a  very  careful  analysis  establishes,  there 

206 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

is  the  vigorous  personality  of  Clemenceau,  this  thing 
which  makes  him  one  of  the  masters  of  modern 
French  literature.  It  is  the  rare  union  of  the  lofti- 
est idealism  with  a  sharp  sense  of  the  real,  the 
taste  for  philosophical  speculation  joined  to  a  great 
sensitiveness  for  Nature,  Art  and  Beauty. 

His  meditation  and  his  power  of  action,  which 
rarely  go  together,  strengthen  each  other.  This 
harmony  is  found  in  his  writings.  He  passes  with- 
out effort  from  the  exposition  of  his  views  to  the 
evocation  of  a  spectacle  of  nature  and  of  the  world. 

Like  his  eloquence,  his  style  is  movement  itself. 
Logic,  one  of  the  controlling  factors  of  his  brain, 
is  adorned  with  imagery  and  color.  Impetuous  but 
always  of  an  unchangeable  lucidity,  passionate  but 
always  controlling  his  ardor,  he  goes  from  the  most 
rigorous  argument  to  irony,  to  sarcasm,  to  strong 
chiding,  to  the  most  tender  poetry,  to  lyricism. 

He  reasons  with  all  his  intelligence  and  will 
brought  into  action. 

And  suddenly  a  flame  springs  from  his  heart. 

His  literary  work,  at  the  same  time  rumbling 
with  passion  and  of  such  high  intellectuality,  his 
quick,  jerky,  sentences  which  suddenly  become 

207 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


gripping,  bear  the  mark  of  this  firm,  clear  reason 
and  of  this  motive  power. 

With  his  pen  in  his  hand,  he  gives  himself  en- 
tirely. And  one  guesses  that,  happy  in  his  full 
liberty,  having  only  to  reckon  with  himself,  he 
gives  himself  with  pleasure. 

In  reading  him  one  imagines  the  satisfaction  that 
such  a  fighter  must  have,  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
worst  injustice,  when,  in  the  silence  and  solitude  of 
his  study,  he  is  able  to  enjoy  the  magnificent  power, 
which  is  possessed  by  a  man  of  letters  in  front  of  a 
blank  sheet  of  paper. 

And  one  feels  that,  to-day  after  twenty-five  years 
of  this  spiritual  pleasure,  M.  Clemenceau  delights 
in  the  enchantment  which  the  writer  feels,  at  de- 
pending only  upon  himself. 

On  the  tribune,  in  the  corridors,  the  man  of 
politics,  if  he  wishes  to  have  influence,  must  be  oc- 
cupied with  ideas,  with  interests,  and  reactions  of 
things  round  about  him.  Necessarily  in  order  not 
to  condemn  himself  to  powerlessness,  he  leaves  a 
little  of  his  faith  at  each  turning,  and  of  his  thought 
at  every  embrasure.  The  writer,  if  he  has  the 
courage,  is  the  sovereign  master  of  his  soul.  Cle- 

208 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

menceau,  who  was  as  firm  and  independent  as  a  po- 
litical man  can  well  be,  had  this  courage.  He  had 
also  the  great  reward.  His  haste  to  take  up  his  pen 
shows  well  that,  having  given  himself  this  enjoy- 
ment, he  will  not  renounce  it,  henceforth,  any  more 
than  he  will  renounce  die  exalting  dignity  of  letters. 

In  the  least  important  of  his  daily  articles,  M. 
Clemenceau  shows  himself  a  master  writer  by  the 
loftiness  of  his  views,  the  persuasive  force  of  his 
reasoning,  by  the  firmness  of  his  concise  sentences, 
the  strength  and  brilliancy  of  his  shafts  and  by  the 
sudden  sweep  of  his  emotion. 

The  best  of  his  articles,  those  which  are  most 
closely  related  to  his  doctrines  and  continue  his 
policy  best,  those  also  which  deal  with  some  sub- 
jects of  humanity  and  have  been  brought  together 
into  volumes,  such  as:  La  Melee  Sociale  (1895), 
Le  Grand  Pan  (1896),  Au  Fil  des  Jours  (1900), 
Aux  Embuscades  de  la  Vie  (1903).  The  extraor- 
dinary variety  of  the  subjects  treated  in  these 
books  does  not  prevent  an  impression  of  unity  from 
clinging  about  them.  It  results  from  the  generous 
philosophy  with  which  the  ideas,  the  events,  the 

209 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


men  of  the  moment  are  appreciated.  And  the 
commentary,  which  he  makes  upon  them,  has  so 
much  loftiness,  is  of  such  a  free  and  profound  spirit 
reveals  such  a  knowledge  of  life  and  of  history,  that 
in  spite  of  the  passing  present  to  which  these  bril- 
liant articles  are  connected,  one  still  reads  with 
interest  the  books  in  which  they  are  assembled. 

These  fine  pages  written  from  day  to  day  have 
been  carefully  joined  together  by  M.  Clemenceau 
by  prefaces  which  sum  up  eloquently  his  conceptions 
of  life;  and  they  put  into  high  relief  the  doctrines 
which  inspired  them.  Thus  the  existence  of  the 
hard  social  battle,  a  fierce  continuation  of  the  strug- 
gle for  life  in  all  nature,  the  existence  of  the  con- 
flict of  species,  the  law  which  he  represents  pro- 
foundly, finds  it  a  corrective  in  human  solidarity 
in  the  face  of  grief,  of  oppression,  of  poverty. 
The  profound  prefaces,  stirring  in  their  thought, 
have  the  value  of  manifestos.  The  preface  of  the 
Grand  Pan,  an  impressive  hymn  to  science  and 
nature  in  which  he  has  shown  with  so  much  poetry, 
his  knowledge  and  his  taste  for  Hellenism,  is  won- 
derfully eloquent. 

.With  all  of  these  lively  discussions  having  as  a 
210 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

subject  some  event  of  the  day,  M.  Clemenceau 
mixes  stories  with  sudden,  correct  observations, 
sometimes  mischievous  and  sometimes  pathetic,  in 
which  he  shows  best  his  knowledge  of  humanity. 
This  is  when  he  has  been  able  to  express  most  freely 
his  feelings  for  the  country  and  the  rural  customs. 

The  fighter  for  ideas  excels  in  bringing  out  a 
landscape  with  its  form,  its  color,  its  rustling,  its 
perfumes.  The  deep  roads  of  Vendee  have  in  him 
their  faithful  painter. 

It  is  not  only  the  corners  of  the  earth  full  of 
memories  for  him  that  he  is  able  to  call  forth  with 
a  stroke  of  the  pen.  He  represents  with  the  same 
truth  in  all  their  peculiar  atmosphere,  the  villages 
and  forests  of  Morvan,  as  well  as  different  regions, 
where,  in  his  too  short  stays,  he  has  been  able  to 
grant  himself  the  sweetness  of  observing  feeling 
and  listening  to  nature. 

Having  kept  the  habit  since  his  youth,  of  under- 
standing the  mysterious  silences  of  peasants,  he 
reconstructs  with  clearness  their  state  of  mind.  He 
makes  them  live  as  they  are  and  speak  as  they 
express  themselves.  There  is  no  affectation  or 
gloominess  about  his  descriptions  of  them ;  but  only 

211 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


their  true  sentiments  and,  through  their  merit  of 
industrious,  economical  and  patient  beings,  their 
funny  little  tricks  for  their  own  interest 

There  is  always  the  animosity  of  the  strong 
against  the  weak  in  these  stories,  as  in  most  of 
Clemenceau's  pages,  together  with  a  pity  which  does 
not  forbid  a  sly  shaft  of  wit,  and  together  with  a 
revolt  against  oppression. 

Such  is  the  theme  of  his  novel,  Les  plus  Forts, 
published  twenty  years  ago,  when  in  very  different 
social  surroundings  and  setting,  one  finds  his  noble 
conception  of  life  applied  to  a  more  brilliant  form 
of  the  struggle  for  life. 

In  the  hurly-burly  of  resounding  campaigns  and 
of  his  parliamentary  activity  M.  Clemenceau  still 
found  time  to  write,  under  the  title  Au  pied  du 
Sinai,  a  series  of  picturesque  stories.  He  traced 
several  silhouettes  of  Oriental  Jews,  with  whom  he 
had  become  familiar  at  Carlsbad  and  he  gave  him- 
self up  to  his  taste  for  sly  observation,  very  much 
diverted  by  the  peculiarity  which  he  perceived. 

Clemenceau  completed  these  discussions  of  ideas, 
and  impressions  of  nature  and  humanity,  by  studies 
of  painters  and  sculptors  in  whose  work  he  finds 

212 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

what  he  prizes  above  all  in  the  work  of  others  and 
what  he  tries  to  put  in  his  own  work :  human  emo- 
tion, the  thought  and  labor  of  the  modern  man,  the 
setting  and  character,  the  love  of  to-day  under  the 
magic,  flowing  poetry  of  life. 

That  is  why  he  hailed  in  turn  in  most  eloquent 
pages  the  sculptor  Constantin  Meunier,  who  with 
such  simple  grandeur  represented  miners  and 
lightermen  at  work;  J.-F.  Raffaelli,  painter  of 
smoke,  of  rubbish  heaps,  and  of  people  of  the  sub- 
urbs, and,  later,  of  the  streets  and  crowds  of  Paris; 
Claude  Monet,  who  represents  the  most  subtle  at- 
mosphere; Eugene  Carriere,  who  expressed  with 
such  pathos  the  deep  life  of  human  beings. 

This  literary  portrait  of  Clemenceau  would  not  be 
complete  if  one  did  not  mention  the  sympathetic 
curiosity  with  which,  in  the  midst  of  so  much  read- 
ing and  work,  he  interested  himself,  even  after  his 
return  to  parliament,  in  the  work  of  the  writers  of 
to-day,  the  young  and  the  unknown,  as  well  as  their 
famous  elder  brothers. 

Every  original  creation  interested  him,  no  matter 
how  obscure  was  the  name  with  which  it  was  signed. 
When  current  events  gave  him  the  opportunity,  with 

213 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


what  pleasure  he  used  the  theses  of  these  books  in 
his  daily  articles  as  an  argument  in  support  of  his 
own  ideas! 

In  his  weekly  pamphlet  Le  Bloc,  which  he  edited 
alone,  and  in  which  no  one  else  ever  wrote  a  line, 
and  in  which  better  than  any  other  place  he  had  the 
means  of  satisfying  his  intellectual  activity,  how 
many  writers,  unknown  or  famous,  had  the  honor 
of  seeing  their  works  studied,  discussed  with  sym- 
pathy or  warmly  praised  by  this  lofty  mind,  happy 
to  point  them  out  as  interesting  examples  of  con- 
temporary thought! 

In  the  hours  of  this  intense  literary  life,  this 
Frenchman  found,  in  the  company  of  masters  and 
in  exercising  the  art  to  which  he  had  devoted  him- 
self with  such  passion,  new  reasons  to  love  his  coun- 
try better  and  to  be  proud  of  it. 

If  since  his  infancy  many  reasons,  still  more 
determining,  had  not  instilled  in  his  heart  the  love 
for  his  country,  his  admiration  and  his  love  for  the 
French  language  would  have  made  him  a  patriot. 

Let  us  repeat  the  hymn  with  which  he  hailed  the 
language  in  his  toast  at  the  banquet  for  Edmond  de 
Goncourt,  where  the  friends  of  the  noble  artist, 

214 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

recognizing  in  Clemenceau  a  writer  worthy  of  pay- 
ing him  homage,  asked  Clemenceau  to  speak.  I 
still  hear  the  strong  accent  of  that  act  of  faith  when 
he  said  with  emotion : 

"Language  of  simplicity,  of  clearness,  of  truth, 
in  which,  like  the  most  perfect  mould  of  thought, 
the  most  subtle  sensations,  the  most  lofty  con- 
ceptions, the  noblest  assertions  are  formulated 
spontaneously.  Language  of  liberty,  which  awak- 
ened the  world  through  the  appeals  of  the  liberated 
spirit,  language  of  pity,  of  severe  justice,  of  pro- 
found kindness,  whence  sprang  the  living  spring 
of  human  solidarity.  Language  of  friendship,  lan- 
guage of  love,  whose  natural  harmony  can,  without 
the  rhythm  of  verse,  delight  the  soul  on  the  heights 
of  sublime  emotion.  Language  adored  by  all  those 
who  feel  it  move  within  them,  who  live  it.  Lan- 
guage of  our  ancestors,  language  of  the  earth,  lan- 
guage of  our  country.  Yes,  it  is  France  herself, 
it  is  the  glory  of  the  past,  and,  in  spite  of  evil 
hours,  it  is  the  unconquerable  hope,  the  solid  an- 
chor of  the  future." 

Singing  the  praise  of  the  French  language,  Cle- 
215 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


menceau  took  occasion  to  speak  with  respect  of  the 
grandeur  and  nobility  of  the  role  of  the  writer: 

'The  peasant  tills  the  soil,  the  workman  forges 
the  tool,  the  scientist  calculates,  the  philosopher 
dreams.  Men  attack  each  other  in  grievous  bat- 
tles for  life,  for  ambition,  for  fortune  or  glory. 
But  the  solitary  thinker,  writing,  acting,  fixes  their 
destiny.  It  is  he  who  awakens  in  them  sentiments 
which  engender  the  ideas  through  which  they  live 
and  which  they  try  to  establish  as  social  realities. 
It  is  he  who  with  his  haunting  phrases,  pushes  them 
into  action  to  reestablish  justice,  truth.  It  is  he 
who  enchants  them  with  his  young  hopes  whose 
intoxicating  appeal  sweeps  them  into  life.  It  is  he 
who  consoles  them,  remakes  them,  and  healing  their 
wounds,  leads  the  conquered  of  yesterday  to  the 
victory  of  to-morrow.  He  opens  hearts,  penetrates 
life,  reveals  man  to  man,  and  truly  creates  him  in 
his  consciousness  and  will. 

"To  have  been  for  one  hour  the  workman  of 
such  a  work,  would  suffice  for  the  glory  of  a  life." 

In  speaking  thus  before  one  of  the  greatest  mas- 
ters of  French  literature,  who  incarnated  so  nobly 
the  merit  and  the  dignity  of  the  writer,  M.  Clemen- 

216 


THE  ORATOR— THE  WRITER 

ceau  showed  his  pride  and  his  joy  of  living  in  full 
liberty  in  the  enchantment  of  creative  exaltation, 
the  beautiful  life  of  a  writer,  which  permitted  him 
to  continue  his  influence  on  men. 


VII 

AT  THE  FRONT 

CAN  one  be  astonished  that  from  the  first  shots 
fired  and  the  first  charges  of  the  Uhlans,  a 
man  of  such  a  soul  and  of  such  a  temper,  partici- 
pated in  the  war? 

For  a  long  time  in  an  ever  more  anxious  atmos- 
phere of  storm,  he  felt  that  the  lightning  was 
threatening  to  set  the  whole  horizon  on  fire.  In  his 
journal  and  on  the  tribune,  he  sounded  the  alarm 
bell.  After  having  helped  to  forge,  by  the  law  of 
three  years'  military  service,  the  weapon  of  defense 
which  we  needed,  he  begged  the  young  Frenchmen 
to  resign  themselves  to  being,  for  ten  months 
longer,  the  shield  of  the  country.  Then,  on  the 
eve  of  the  catastrophe  which  he  felt  was  near,  be- 
lieving that  there  was  still  time,  he  had  sounded  a 
cry  of  alarm  in  the  Senate  in  order  that  our  output 
of  munitions  might  be  accelerated. 

His  haunting  fear  came  true.  Without  reason, 
218 


AT  THE  FRONT 


in  spite  of  our  praiseworthy  patience,  Germany  falls 
on  us.  Clemenceau,  inconsolable  for  the  defeat 
and  invasion,  sees  again  the  nightmare  by  which 
he  is  obsessed  since  1871.  The  German  flood  is 
again  going  to  strike  against  our  frontier.  Can  he 
not  stem  it? 

Clemenceau  hopes  so.  The  spirit  of  the  nation 
is  wonderful.  No  more  discords.  The  doctrines 
of  renunciation  are  forgotten.  Is  it  the  same  na- 
tion in  which,  at  certain  times  of  illusion,  in  cer- 
tain quarters  confused  by  ignorance,  unfortunate 
men  calumniated  each  other?  Within  twenty- four 
hours  all  France  has  risen,  trembling  with  indigna- 
tion. It  is  the  spirit  of  1792.  They  rush  to  arms 
for  liberty.  In  the  rending  of  its  calm  happiness, 
in  the  anxiety  of  battle  near  at  hand,  the  whole 
country  is  admirable  in  its  stoicism,  resignation,  con- 
fidence. 

For  Clemenceau,  who  is  not  in  power  and  who 
intends  to  serve  in  his  way  during  the  tragedy  in 
which  the  fate  of  France  is  being  played,  there  is 
nothing  to  do,  save  inspire  hearts. 

With  what  emotion  and  with  what  eloquent  pages 
he  sets  about  it !  Each  one  reads  him  to  strengthen 

219 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


"his  faith.  It  is  truly  the  generous,  tender,  firm  soul 
of  the  country  which  is  wonderfully  expressed  un- 
der his  pen.  His  inspired  articles  are  among  the 
pages  which  comfort  best  of  all  and  do  the  most 
good.  Those  who  go  and  those  who  stay,  find  in 
them  new  reasons  for  loving  France  more,  for  suf- 
fering, for  sacrificing  for  her. 

In  spite  of  the  lack  and  the  insufficiency  which 
he  knows,  Clemenceau  hopes  that  heroism  and  in- 
telligence will  supplement  our  preparedness  on  cer- 
tain points  and  that  all  will  go  well.  He  believes 
that  they  will  get  the  best  out  of  what  there  is  and 
will  be  able  to  create  with  boldness  and  decision 
what  is  lacking. 

Indeed,  they  set  their  minds  to  it.  They  work 
and  improvise.  Under  the  first  terrible  shock,  after 
a  strategic  retreat,  our  armies  rebound.  The  vic- 
tory of  the  Marne  and  the  rapid  mobilization  of 
French  industries,  to  a  great  extent  dispossessed  of 
their  factories,  give  the  world  time  to  come  to  our 
aid. 

Yet,  the  machine  is  not  running  well.  The  real- 
ity of  this  terrible  war  surpasses  everything  which 
could  be  imagined  or  foreseen,  without  counting 

220 


AT  THE  FRONT 


the  red  tape  and  apathy.  Of  course,  there  were 
men  whose  careless  mediocrity  concealed  in  the 
easy  tasks  of  peace,  would  be  revealed  in  all  its 
scandal  and  fatality  as  soon  as  war  broke  out. 
Again,  time  is  necessary  to  discover  them  and  oust 
them. 

During  the  interregnum  of  the  Chambers  and  the 
parliamentary  Commissions  which  were  not  in  ses- 
sion during  the  first  weeks  of  the  war,  Clemenceau 
watches,  observes,  gets  information.  Already  in 
the  general  silence,  he  begins  his  role  of  sentinel. 
Informed,  he  warns.  As  they  do  not  listen  to  him 
as  quickly  as  he  would  like,  he  redoubles  the  energy 
of  his  sentry  duty.  He  talks  more  loudly.  Think- 
ing only  of  being  useful,  of  avoiding  delays  and 
mistakes  injurious  to  the  country,  he  complains  that 
they  are  mistaking  his  intentions  and  that  they  seem 
to  want  to  stifle  his  entreaties. 

Without  criticising  the  conduct  of  the  war,  what 
does  he  point  out?  The  bad  organization,  the  poor 
means,  the  inability  to  change  methods  of  the  sani- 
tary department  which,  surprised  by  the  slaughter 
of  these  great  unforeseen  battles,  and  deranged  by 
the  retreat,  does  not  adapt  itself  resolutely  enough 

221 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


to  the  proportions  of  the  tragedy.  Tortured  and 
shuddering,  Clemenceau,  who  knows  the  value  of 
French  blood,  wants  more  efficient  care  provided 
for  the  wounded  without  delay.  The  doctor  speaks 
for  this,  at  the  same  time  as  does  the  patriot 

Then  the  baseness  of  slacking,  favored  by  equally 
guilty  complacency,  disgusts  him,  shocks  him,  wor- 
ries him.  He  knows  that  in  a  country  like  ours, 
where  the  equality  of  duty  and  danger  should  be 
the  rule,  nothing  has  so  much  power  as  these  shame- 
ful subterfuges  to  demoralize  people. 

How  will  the  mothers,  wives,  fiancees,  bear  the 
anxiety  and  perhaps  the  grief,  if,  in  their  neighbor- 
hood, there  are  too  many  families  cunningly  ex- 
empted from  these  sufferings?  No  longer  believ- 
ing in  justice,  will  they  have  the  power  of  resig- 
nation? It  is  to  be  feared  that  they  will  feel  their 
courage  fail  them  and  break,  by  their  rancor  and 
by  their  complaints,  the  efforts  of  our  defense. 
Then  in  his  disgust  and  apprehension,  Clemenceau 
rises  against  this  cynicism  of  these  sly  deserters, 
pours  forth  vituperation  on  the  accomplices  and  on 
the  irresponsibility  of  their  unmoral  powers  which 
protect  cowardice. 

222 


AT  THE  FRONT 


This  was  a  just  campaign  made  necessary  by  a 
disgraceful  tendency  toward  slackers  on  the  part 
of  some,  in  contrast  with  the  enthusiastic  rush  to 
arms  on  the  part  of  the  country.  When  M. 
Clemenceau  had  become  minister,  he  put  his  most 
intimate  colleagues  in  charge  of  the  hunting  down 
of  the  disgraceful  slackers.  Unfortunately,  in  spite 
of  everything,  many  were  able  to  take  refuge  in 
so-called  war-work  and  were  sheltered  by  laws 
which  made  this  comedy  of  theirs  legitimate.  When 
the  two  chambers  began  to  sit  again,  M.  Clemen- 
ceau found  in  the  Commission  of  the  Senate,  which 
immediately  set  methodically  and  seriously  to  work, 
a  new  means  of  carrying  on  his  activity  against 
this  abuse.  Henceforth,  he  had  not  merely  his 
journal  L'Homme  Libre  to  point  out  weakness  and 
slowness.  (L'Homme  Libre  was  cut  to  pieces  every 
day  by  the  censor's  scissors  and  sometimes  its  pub- 
lication was  stopped.  As  a  protest,  he  changed  the 
name  of  this  journal  to  L'Homme  Enchaine.) 

As  a  member  and  then  the  president  of  the  Com- 
mission of  External  Affairs  of  the  Senate,  he  was 
able  to  take  advantage  of  the  frequent  appearance 

223 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


of  the  ministers  before  these  Commissions,  to  give 
them  precise  facts,  to  demand  that  these  mistakes 
be  remedied,  to  demand  rigorous  measures  of  pres- 
ervation. 

With  all  his  ardent  soul,  with  all  his  clear  rea- 
son, exclusively  applied  to  the  safety  of  France,  he 
participates  in  the  work  of  national  defense. 

From  the  first  weeks,  he  saw  that  the  war  would 
be  very  long  and  that  we  should  arm  ourselves  as 
if  it  were  going  to  be  very  much  longer.  He  wants 
programs  for  the  manufacture  of  munitions  quickly 
drawn  up  on  a  large  scale,  corresponding  to  the  ne- 
cessities of  modern  warfare. 

Speaking  in  the  name  of  a  Senatorial  Commis* 
sion  which  is  animated  by  the  most  intelligent  patri- 
otism, he  thinks  of  our  soldiers  who  are  suffering 
and  bleeding  and  who,  badly  equipped,  have  only 
their  breasts  to  defend  France. 

Therefore  how  anxious  he  is  to  see  coming  out 
of  the  arsenals,  the  shops,  without  delay,  material 
worthy  of  their  bravery  and  able  to  render  it  ef- 
ficient ! 

He  insists,  he  presses,  he  is  on  guard  against  red- 
224 


AT  THE  FRONT 


tape  and  against  the  harmful  esprit  de  corps  which, 
distrustful  and  disdainful  of  unsanctioned  initia- 
tive, discourages  good  intentions. 

At  the  same  time,  in  the  Commission  of  Exter- 
nal Affairs  he  checks  up  the  official  statements  by 
the  private  information  which  his  colleagues  and 
he  procure.  All  working  together,  they  try  to  per- 
ceive and  to  propose  the  best  measures  for  the  diplo- 
matic conduct  of  the  war. 

Thus,  since  the  beginning,  without  respite  and 
without  stopping,  with  nothing  but  solicitude  for 
the  public  welfare,  he  consecrated  all  his  activity 
to  national  defense. 

He  knows  every  lack,  all  the  problems  that  arise 
day  by  day,  all  the  fortunate  or  unfortunate  at- 
tempts, failures  as  well  as  successes,  the  progres- 
sive struggle  for  the  greater  output  of  munitions, 
the  ups  and  downs  of  our  relations  with  the  Allies 
and  the  neutrals. 

He  is  informed  of  everything.  He  has  the  fig- 
ures and  the  smallest  details  in  his  memory.  One 
can  say  that  he  understands  absolutely  all  the  parts 
of  the  mechanism  of  the  war. 

225 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


He  is  not  satisfied  with  the  information  that 
comes  to  him.  Not  content  with  suggesting  pro- 
grams and  with  speeding  up  their  realization,  of 
getting  information  on  the  best  employment  of  men 
and  material  placed  at  the  disposition  of  the  su- 
preme command,  he  wishes  to  find  out  about  it  him- 
self. As  soon  as  he  can  he  goes  to  the  front. 

In  the  haste  of  these  rapid  journeys,  he  stops  a 
moment  at  Headquarters  and  talks  with  the  chiefs. 
What  old  prejudices  there  may  be  against  him! 
And  yet  one  is  glad  to  recall  in  what  conditions 
eight  years  before,  he  had  appointed  General  Foch 
Director  of  the  War  College,  in  spite  of  the  foolish 
and  ill-timed  objections  of  a  political  order  which 
were  made.  And  he  did  this  because,  caring  only 
for  France,  he  intended  to  choose  the  man  most 
capable  of  forming  a  group  of  the  finest  officers  to 
defend  her.  One  remembers  also  his  firm  attitude 
against  the  aggressive  chicanery  of  Germany  in  re- 
gard to  the  deserters  of  Casablanca  and  his  refusal 
to  allow  France  to  be  humiliated. 

Also  he  expresses  himself  with  such  frankness! 
Under  his  sarcastic  harshness  one  feels  such  a  love 
for  his  country  and  such  cordial  gratitude  for  those 

226 


AT  THE  FRONT 


who  serve  it  with  all  their  heart  and  with  intelligent 
energy ! 

They  perceive  that  he  listens,  observes,  questions, 
and  discusses  with  calm  lucidity.  He  does  not 
hesitate  to  advance  certain  ideas  when  they  show 
him  that  they  are  not  correct.  He  wants  people 
to  speak  to  him  with  the  same  frankness  which  he 
brings  into  these  conversations  himself.  He  up- 
holds just  claims. 

Finally  his  radiant  patriotism,  with  its  clearsight- 
edness, its  firmness,  and  its  hope,  enchants  those 
who  approach  him.  It  is  the  soul  of  France,  proud, 
resolute,  gayly  courageous,  which  Clemenceau 
brings  to  the  armies. 

These  conversations  just  behind  the  lines,  are 
only  brief  halts  in  his  trips  to  cantonments,  trenches, 
the  true  goal  of  these  journeys  of  investigation. 

Gaitered,  wrapped  up  in  his  heavy  civilian  coat, 
the  felt  hat,  knocked  in  and  pulled  down  over  his 
face,  Clemenceau,  such  an  old  nimble  hunter,  walks 
in  the  midst  of  the  poilus.  With  a  familiar  power, 
of  which  no  one  dreams  of  taking  advantage  be- 
cause he  keeps  a  great  dignity  in  his  most  affable 
good  humor,  he  speaks  to  them.  And  he  knows 

227 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


how  to  make  himself  understood,  whether  he  talks 
about  the  country  or  about  victory.  Not  one  of 
them  would  be  tempted  to  murmur:  "Hot-air 
artist."  He  has  a  manner.  The  most  rebellious 
undergo  the  grip  of  his  will  and  his  warm  heart. 

Those  who  are  most  ill-disposed  toward  parlia- 
mentarians, in  his  presence  are  without  distrust  and 
without  any  thought  of  jeering.  They  have  seen 
him  very  near  bursting  shells.  They  know  that  he 
is  not  afraid.  He  does  not  pose.  He  is  cordial, 
spontaneous  and  bantering.  He  has  the  soul  of  the 
poilu.  They  adopt  him. 

He  is  Clemenceau !  It  does  not  make  any  differ- 
ence that  they  have  not  always  been  in  accord  with 
him,  they  are  none  the  less  proud  to  look  out  of 
the  loop-hole  to  be  under  the  shell-fire  not  far  away 
from  this  glorious  comrade,  with  his  big  white 
mustache,  former  chief  of  the  Government  of 
France,  who,  like  a  brave  sentinel,  wishes  to  mount 
guard  in  the  midst  of  the  men  of  the  line,  and  who, 
recalcitrant  to  the  order  of  the  men  on  the  staff, 
always  wants  to  go  farther  in  order  to  see  better. 

Such  indeed  is  his  constant  desire.  He  only 
thinks  of  dragging  beyond  the  permitted  limits  the 

228 


AT  THE  FRONT 


officer  that  the  chief  of  the  sector  has  given  him  as 
a  guide.  And  if  it  is  the  Commandant  himself 
who  accompanies  him,  he  revolts  more  strongly 
against  the  orders  which  have  come  from  higher  up, 
against  the  prudence  which,  however,  one  is  right  in 
having. 

Furious  at  feeling  himself  even  in  the  lines,  a  man 
enchained,  he  protests,  he  uses  all  his  jovial,  author- 
itative and  persuasive  powers  of  seduction;  but  his 
efforts  are  vain  against  the  obedience  to  orders  and 
against  the  feeling  of  just  and  grave  responsibility. 

Then  feigning  more  ill-humor  than  he  has,  he 
tries  to  pique  the  pride  of  his  guardian: 

"You  are  not  obliged  to  accompany  me!"  he  de- 
clares ironically  with  a  gleam  of  mischief  in  his 
look. 

The  chief  of  the  sector,  very  sorry  at  not  being 
able  to  let  this  thoroughbred  have  his  head,  is  very 
careful  not  to  take  this  mischievousness  as  an  of- 
fense, smiles  but  resists. 

Worn  out,  he  counsels  his  tormentor: 

"I  can't  do  anything  about  it.  Telephone  to 
general  headquarters." 

Here  is  Clemenceau,  scolding,  imperious,  sar- 
229 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


castic,  at  the  telephone:  Excessive  precautions! 
They're  holding  him  up!  They  don't  let  him  see 
anything!  Imaginary  danger!  And  then  what 
difference  does  it  make ! 

One  guesses  from  his  more  and  more  insistent 
and  irritable  replies  that  at  the  other  end  of  the  line 
the  General  or  Colonel,  with  very  deferential  ob- 
stinacy, is  strongly  forbidding  him. 

Clemenceau  knows  that  his  insinuation  is  unjust 
and  his  smile  proves  it,  but  irritated  at  his  power- 
lessness,  he  risks  without  conviction  another  blow 
straight  at  the  pride  of  his  distant  interlocutor:  he 
shouts  over  the  wire  with  his  cutting,  sardonic 
voice:  "Because  the  officers  of  the  staff  are  often 
kept  far  away  from  the  trenches  is  no  reason  for 
forbidding  me  access  to  them." 

But  there  also  they  know  him.  They  don't  get 
angry.  They  are  polite  toward  his  ill-humor,  but 
they  resist. 

With  what  rage,  full  of  playfulness,  he  hangs  up 
the  receiver!  Down  deep  in  his  heart  he  is  full  of 
respect  for  these  officers,  who,  in  spite  of  his  author- 
ity and  prestige  and  his  sharpness,  do  not  give  way 
under  orders. 

230 


AT  THE  FRONT 


But  he  is  Premier,  Minister  of  War.  It  is  he 
who  now  gives  orders.  No  one  will  hinder  him 
perhaps  from  going  where  he  wants  to  go?  He 
does  as  he  pleases. 

He  is  the  chief,  that  is  to  say,  the  man  who  is 
responsible.  He  wants  to  see  how  all  the  wheels 
of  the  enormous  machine  move,  how  and  in  what 
spirit  his  orders  are  executed. 

He  wishes  to  talk  as  much  as  possible  with  his 
generals,  in  whom  he  sincerely  and  gladly  places 
confidence,  arid  who  are  happy  to  have  at  their  head 
a  man  of  this  kind.  He  feels  the  beneficence  of 
intimate  relations  with  them,  talks  man  to  man, 
apart  from  official  documents  and  telephone  calls. 
What  misunderstandings,  mistakes  and  slowness 
one  can  avoid  by  speaking  with  frankness.  Unity 
of  views  and  efforts  is  assured. 

For  the  same  reason  he  wishes  to  be  as  much  as 
possible  with  the  troops  and  talk  simply  and  cor- 
dially with  our  soldiers,  bring  to  them  even  in  the 
lines  the  grateful  heart  of  France,  prove  to  them 
by  his  own  presence  in  the  zone  battered  by  machine- 
guns,  his  kind  solicitude. 

Comfort  them?  Not  at  all.  They  have  no  need 
231 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


of  that.  Their  bravery  is  all  energy,  all  boldness. 
For  so  long  a  time  their  stoical  soul  has  known 
resignation. 

But  perhaps  they  will  not  be  indifferent  at  seeing, 
at  the  turn  of  a  road  swept  by  shell-fire,  or  some 
corner  of  the  trench,  when  they  are  going  to  the 
front,  the  glorious  old  man  in  a  roar  of  the  storm 
of  shells. 

From  their  words  and  their  looks  he  feels  that 
his  appearance  among  them  gives  them  pleasure. 
Being  sure  of  this  he  considers  it  his  duty  not  to 
neglect  this  way  of  helping  the  country.  That  is 
the  reason  that  he  replies  only  with  a  smiling  ges- 
ture of  resolution  to  his  many  friends  who  are 
worried  over  this  adventurous  roaming  about  under 
skies  laden  with  steel. 

If  he  goes  to  the  front  lines  it  is  not  only  because 
he  thinks  that  his  visits  are  useful.  It  is  also  be- 
cause, at  grips  with  most  terrible  difficulties,  he 
himself  finds  the  greatest  comfort  in  this  at- 
mosphere of  enthusiasm,  of  sacrifice  and  of 
heroism. 

It  is  a  sacred  atmosphere  where,  in  the  suffering 
and  the  perpetual  peril,  the  greatest  virtues  shine 

232 


AT  THE  FRONT 


forth.  With  what  simplicity!  What  a  total  dis- 
regard of  unimportant  preoccupations!  At  every 
moment  the  best  in  man  is  shown  there.  Never,  at 
any  time,  in  any  country,  has  there  been  more  moral 
beauty.  The  noblest  idealism  upholds  their 
strength.  All  this  without  caring  for  their  attitude, 
without  any  claim  of  sublimity,  with  a  frankness 
in  regard  to  the  little,  usual  weaknesses,  in  the  pic- 
turesque carelessness  which  often  accompanies  the 
valor  of  our  poilus. 

Then  he,  the  man  of  action,  the  chief  of  the  gov- 
ernment, who,  in  order  not  to  relax  his  terrible 
effort,  needs  to  live  in  faith  and  in  hope,  with  what 
relief  he  comes  to  steep  himself  in  this  mighty  mass 
of  humanity  exalted  by  its  sacrifice  which  will  per- 
haps never  be  found  again  in  this  paroxysm  of  re- 
nunciation and  of  noble  ardor. 

Clemenceau  brings  back  as  much  moral  force  as 
he  takes  there. 

Back  of  the  lines,  even  if  the  great  majority  of 
Frenchmen  keep  their  souls  proudly  open  to  hope 
and  share  in  saving  the  country,  stoicism  and 
grandeur  do  not  always  exist.  In  this  immense  col- 
lective work,  in  which  we  should  all  be  proud  to  be 

233 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


humble,  nameless  workers,  there  are  those  who  do 
not  succeed  in  controlling  themselves  enough  to  for- 
get themselves.  There  are  falterings,  vanities,  in- 
trigues which,  far  away  from  danger,  are  not  ef- 
faced under  the  red  badge  of  courage.  One  finds, 
together  with  abnegation,  devotion,  eager,  con- 
fident patriotism,  egoism,  cupidity,  cynical  ambition, 
infamy,  low-minded  profiteering,  crime. 

Near  the  garden  of  virtues  there  is  the  muck- 
heap  of  ugliness  and  shame.  There  are  pestilential 
emanations  of  which  the  least  among  us  must  be- 
ware. It  is  all  the  more  necessary  for  the  respon- 
sible leader  to  preserve  all  his  lucid  firmness,  all  his 
power  for  action,  and  he  must  neglect  nothing  to 
maintain  his  strength. 

What  a  refreshing  tonic  are  these  visits  to  the 
front  when,  in  spite  of  the  hardness  of  such  a  life 
in  the  mud,  the  blood  and  in  the  hail  of  steel,  in 
spite  of  the  strokes  of  the  terrible  Reaper,  Death, 
hearts  are  radiant  with  hope.  Let  us  not  doubt 
Clemenceau,  so  filled  with  admiration  and  grati- 
tude for  the  wonderful  halo  which  emanates  from 
them. 

Clemenceau  carries  on  the  war  with  the  soul  of  a 

234 


AT  THE  FRONT 


warrior.  He  studies,  of  course,  reports,  dispatches, 
statistics  with  great  care.  But  he  never  loses  from 
sight  the  reality:  the  men  beyond  the  piles  of  of- 
ficial papers.  He  thinks  of  them  when  figures  are 
given  to  him.  When  theories  are  submitted  to 
him  he  wonders,  no  matter  how  correct  and  bril- 
liant they  are,  how  the  men  in  the  horizon-blue  uni- 
forms will  react  to  them. 

Then  he  wishes  to  see  and  find  out  about  the  re- 
sults, without  taking  into  consideration  a  lack  of 
synchronism  between  the  front  and  the  rear. 

Neither  the  liaison  officers  nor  the  telephone  were 
sufficient  to  keep  them  in  unison.  It  is  good  that 
the  chief,  if  he  knows  how  to  watch,  to  persuade, 
to  be  obeyed,  should  institute  himself  the  high 
liaison  officer  between  the  nation  and  the  army  and, 
that,  well  informed  and  zealous  servant  of  the  coun- 
try, he  should  make  his  voice  heard  in  Parliament 
and  at  Headquarters. 

That  is  why  Clemenceau,  applying  more  than  ever 
his  method  since  he  has  been  in  power,  goes  to  the 
front  as  soon  as  he  can  get  a  day  off  or  merely  an 
evening  between  conferences  and  committee  meet- 
ings, and  important  meetings  of  Parliament. 

235 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


He  goes  at  full  speed  toward  the  zone  of  the 
Allies.  His  little  soft  hat,  his  large  white  mus- 
tache and  his  sharp  black  eyes  may  be  seen  behind 
the  window  of  the  automobile. 

As  he  goes  by,  people  recognize  him.  They  at- 
tempt a  salute  when  the  speed  of  the  car  allows  it. 
If  not,  they  smile  and  without  knowing  each  other 
they  feel  the  need  of  pointing  out  to  each  other,  by 
a  gesture  or  by  a  word,  the  presence  of  Clemenceau. 

The  crowd  loves  his  activity,  his  picturesque 
good-fellowship,  and  his  bantering  ways.  People 
are  glad  to  say  to  themselves  that  the  sentinel  is  on 
careful  guard. 

In  the  auto,  beside  the  Minister  of  National  De- 
liverance is  one  of  the  most  energetic  and  intel- 
ligent men  of  the  young  army :  General  Mordacq, 
chief  of  the  military  cabinet,  with  six  palms  on  his 
war-cross,  his  fifth  stripe  and  his  stars  won  on  the 
field  of  battle.  He  is  just  the  kind  of  a  helper 
needed  by  Clemenceau.  He  is  industrious,  has  a 
clear  mind,  a  strong  character,  acts  with  decision, 
speaks  only  when  he  has  something  to  say. 

Clemenceau  works  on  the  way.  He  does  not 
start  out  without  his  portfolio.  If  he  has  not  docu- 

236 


AT  THE  FRONT 


ments  under  his  eyes,  he  has  the  figures  and  all  the 
details  clearly  engraved  in  his  memory.  It  is  a 
precious  occasion  to  reflect  and  discuss  without  the 
perpetual  uproar  of  the  whirlwind  entrances,  visits 
and  telephone  calls. 

To  what  sector  is  he  going? 

Where  they  fought  yesterday,  that  is  to  say  where 
there  is  heroism  to  glorify  and  wounds  to  heal,  sor- 
row to  console,  for  the  empty  spaces  in  the  ranks 
oppress  the  hearts  which  survive. 

Where  they  will  fight  to-morrow,  because  on  the 
eve  of  the  "Day"  it  is  a  good  thing  to  make  those, 
who  are  going  to  risk  all  for  France,  know  she  is 
with  her  defenders  with  all  her  tender  and  strong 
soul. 

Where  they  are  fighting  to-day.  In  the  uproar  of 
shells  and  the  hell  of  the  mad  attack.  There  the 
men  are  sustained  by  the  feeling  of  duty,  of  honor, 
of  all  the  nobleness,  of  all  the  charms,  of  all  the 
beautiful  hopes  that  France  represents  in  their  eyes. 
They  are  exalted  by  the  memory  of  their  wives, 
their  fathers,  the  home  which  must  be  preserved  for 
the  future.  They  rush  into  the  hurricane  of  fire, 
struggle  on  the  ground,  fight  one  against  the  other. 

237 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Is  it  not  well  that  they  should  see  the  chief,  that 
they  would  hear  his  warm  words,  shake  his  friendly 
hand,  when  going  into  the  furnace  and  when  hag- 
gard, worn  out,  still  trembling  with  the  superhuman 
act,  they  come  out  of  the  lines? 

The  shells  fall  near  by.  Two  minutes  before  the 
windows  of  his  auto  were  broken. 

Just  now  the  divisional  staff  was  up  in  the  air 
because  the  Minister  having  gone  his  own  way,  they 
did  not  know  in  what  trenches  he  was  walking  and 
whether  anything  had  happened  to  him. 

Perhaps  at  this  time  the  victorious  march  of  the 
victorious  French  armies,  followed  by  the  general 
advance  of  the  Belgian,  British  and  American 
armies,  has  made  this  personal  contact  less  neces- 
sary. 

Since  the  days  in  June  when  Mangin  threw  back 
the  Prussian  Guard,  since  the  fifteenth  of  July,  the 
great  day  of  the  stolid  stand  of  Gouraud  in  Cham- 
pagne, the  great  breath  of  victory  has  exalted  the 
heart  and  brought  joy  and  hope  into  the  terrible 
effort.  Gouraud's  stand  made  possible  the  liber- 
ating movement  so  masterfully  conceived  by  Foch, 
Petain,  and  Fayolle,  so  masterfully  executed  by 

238 


AT  THE  FRONT 


Mangin,  Humbert,  Debeny,  under  the  orders  of 
Fayolle  himself,  by  Degoutte  and  Berthelot  under 
the  command  of  Maistre.  But  in  March,  April, 
May,  June,  how  many  dark  days  there  were,  where, 
while  the  reserves  were  barring  the  road  to  Paris, 
it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  have  the  ardor  of 
Clemenceau  burning  at  the  front. 

Those  who  were  in  the  furnace  can  bear  witness 
to  the  happy  effect  of  his  frequent  presence  and  his 
comforting  talk.  It  was  France,  invincibly  con- 
fident and  resolved  not  to  die  which  was  expressing 
herself  in  his  words. 

Nothing  ever  betrays  his  anxiety  before  the  men 
who  were  dominated  by  his  faith,  his  will,  his  hope. 
He  showed  the  magnificent  good-humor,  the  witty 
joviality,  the  calm  which  he  maintains  in  the  most 
critical  days.  In  his  low,  jerky  voice  there  was  only 
a  little  more  emotion  which  made  his  appeal  more 
impressive. 

How  well  he  knows  how  to  appear  before  our 
soldiers,  with  a  resolute  affability,  which  immedi- 
ately breaks  the  ice,  and  how  well  he  knows  how  to 
speak  to  them  with  a  cordial  brusqueness ! 

The  politeness  with  which  he  accompanies  his 
239 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


spontaneous  good-fellowship  does  not  fail  to  sur- 
prise them  agreeably.  He  has  his  own  way  of  ap- 
proaching them. 

If  he  meets  a  troop  on  the  march  or  at  rest,  with 
his  cane  along  his  arm  and  his  hands  in  his  pockets 
of  his  overcoat,  he  salutes  them  with  a  clear: 

"How  do  you  do,  Gentlemen!" 

Astonishment  among  the  soldiers.  Military 
discipline  hardly  allows  such  greetings. 

This  is  no  affectation  in  Clemenceau.  If  he  uses 
this  phrase  it  is  because  it  corresponds  to  his  feel- 
ings. 

He  knows  that  in  the  ranks  of  the  French  army, 
men  of  all  classes  and  professions  rub  elbows. 
Thinkers  are  lined  up  with  workers;  peasants  are 
near  merchants;  employees  are  with  lawyers.  He 
is  full  of  respect  for  these  citizen-soldiers  who  en- 
dure, with  so  much  resignation  and  such  long  brav- 
ery, suffering  and  incessant  danger. 

He  knows  their  life,  the  charming  happiness,  the 
delightful  customs  of  which  it  is  composed.  He 
thinks  of  the  work,  the  charms,  the  pleasures  which 
they  have  renounced  without  complaining  for  four 
years.  He  appreciates  the  hard  sacrifice  which  they 

240 


AT  THE  FRONT 


are  all  making  for  their  country;  the  man  of  the 
fields  homesick  for  his  plowing  and  his  animals; 
the  city  man  deprived  of  his  elegance  and  his  com- 
fort; the  scholar  who  has  left  his  books;  the  man 
of  affairs  taken  from  his  business. 

Above  all,  he  knows  what  has  been  accomplished 
by  the  greatest  soldiers  France  has  ever  had  and  all 
that  we  owe  them. 

He  attempts  to  render  their  efforts  less  trying. 
He  does  not  cease  to  watch  personally  over  the 
material  comfort  of  their  heroism. 

But  that  is  not  enough.  As  he  admires  them,  as 
he  has  vowed  to  them  the  most  affectionate  grati- 
tude, he  tries  to  make  them  feel  it  on  every  occa- 
sion. 

"They  have  rights  over  us !"  This  is  a  great  idea 
which,  in  one  of  his  pithy  sayings,  he  expressed 
publicly  as  a  program  of  gratitude. 

Having  shown  by  this  personal  salutation  in  what 
great  esteem  he  holds  them  and  with  what  feelings 
he  speaks  to  them,  he  talks  to  them  man  to  man, 
with  a  familiar  joviality.  His  frankness  calls  out 
frankness,  and  in  this,  as  everywhere,  he  has  a  witty 
thrust,  sometimes  caustic,  which  amuses  them.  It 

241 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


is  an  agreeable  covering  which  he  gives  to  his  rea- 
son and  good  sense. 

Then  on  certain  difficult  days,  with  a  sudden 
flight  of  oratory  of  striking  simplicity,  he  makes 
the  thrill  of  noble  enthusiasm  pass  through  their 
whole  being.  It  is  the  country  which  sends  them 
to  the  attack  through  the  emotional  voice  of  this 
inspiring  man. 

He  is  certainly  playful,  full  of  good-fellowship, 
wittily  familiar;  but  he  has  such  dignity  and  so 
great  a  power  of  mind  even  in  his  most  intimate 
friendly  talks,  that  the  greatest  lout  would  not  have 
the  slightest  temptation  to  be  disrespectful. 

While  talking  heart  to  heart,  in  a  friendly  tone 
which  is  humorous  on  occasions,  Clemenceau  re- 
mains the  chief. 

And  suddenly  with  an  inspiring  word,  compre- 
hensible to  the  most  simple  souls,  he  recalls  the  duty 
with  which  he  is  invested.  He  carries  his  soldier's 
stripes  in  his  brain  and  character. 

Everywhere  he  passes,  so  free  and  easy  and  so 
simple,  his  presence  brings  pleasure  and  excites  en- 
thusiasm. People  rush  to  hear  him,  to  shake  his 
hand.  They  try  to  find  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins, 

242 


AT  THE  FRONT 


in  the  "bush,"  in  the  torn  up  ground  some  symbol 
of  the  feelings  which  they  have  for  him. 

For  example,  a  little  while  ago  in  the  famous 
"mountains"  to  the  east  of  Reims,  which  almost  in 
his  presence  had  been  snatched  from  the  invader, 
our  poilu  was  happy  to  see  him  in  such  a  place  at 
such  a  moment,  seeking  in  this  landscape,  pock- 
marked like  the  surface  of  the  moon,  some  simple 
flowers  which  gave  the  illusion  of  a  tri-color  bouquet. 

With  what  joy  they  offered  it  to  Clemenceau,  who 
was  very  much  moved  at  the  receipt  of  these  flowers 
picked  in  such  a  place  by  men  who  had  just  con- 
quered it! 

In  the  hospitals  at  the  front,  where  he  stops  as 
much  as  possible  to  comfort  the  wounded,  in  the 
hospitals  back  of  the  lines,  which  he  visits  some- 
times, he  finds  immediately  the  comforting  words 
and  intonations. 

A  room  which  he  has  traversed  is  a  room  where 
for  several  instants  pain  seems  less  sharp  and  sor- 
row is  certainly  quieted. 

There,  the  doctor  which  Clemenceau  was  and  still 
is  a  little,  appears  in  the  minister.  His  words  in- 

243 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


vestigate  and  care  for  their  health  before  they  cheer 
them  up. 

Therefore,  grateful  looks  follow  him  when  he 
goes  away,  and  if  by  chance  at  the  head  of  the  bed 
he  meets  the  father,  the  mother  or  the  wife  of  the 
poor  wounded  man,  how  he  knows  how  to  win  their 
heart  and  with  what  soothing  tones  he  consoles  them 
and  gives  them  hope !  What  moving  scenes  of  this 
kind  were  reported  by  witnesses! 

With  the  officers  the  same  outburst  of  gratitude 
and  affectionate  respect,  the  same  rapid  penetration 
of  hearts,  an  equal  love  for  France  brings  them 
together  instantly.  They  know  up  to  what  point  his 
efforts  are  stretched  toward  victory,  and  with  what 
solicitude  he  surrounds  their  soldiers.  Like  the 
soldiers,  the  officers  say  that  this  grand  old  man, 
henceforth  above  all  ambition,  desires  nothing,  seeks 
nothing  for  himself,  lives  only  for  the  liberation  of 
his  country  and  for  its  complete  triumph  which 
alone  can  guarantee  our  children  a  long  security  in 
the  future. 

He  knows  that  these  are  the  same  men  as  their 
poilus.  They  run  the  same  risks,  often  even  more. 

244 


AT  THE  FRONT 


Honor  and  responsibility  impose  obligation.  On 
the  days  of  attack,  standing  up  first  on  the  parapet 
of  the  trench  and  marching  at  the  head  of  their 
company,  of  their  battalion,  they  are  by  their  very 
position  more  exposed  to  the  shots  of  the  enemy. 
Magnificent  in  their  calmness,  their  energy,  their 
enthusiasm,  an  example  with  the  smiling  elegance 
of  their  stoicism,  they  have  been  mowed  down  by 
tens  of  thousands. 

Most  of  them  have  come  up  from  the  ranks.  In 
the  unit  in  which  they  were  serving,  in  the  midst  of 
their  comrades  they  won  their  stripes  by  their  brav- 
ery and  almost  always  by  the  price  of  their  blood. 

Those  who,  having  had  the  time  to  be  educated 
in  the  military  schools  before  the  cataclysm,  have 
survived  forty-eight  months  of  slaughter,  have  led 
the  same  heroic  hard  life.  These  young  ancestors 
are  very  rare  to-day.  They  are  all  of  equally  strong 
steel. 

The  sole  difference  between  officers  and  soldiers 
is,  in  general,  better  education,  fitness  to  command 
which  comes  from  mastery  over  oneself,  and  a 
preponderant  part  in  danger,  since  the  officer,  on 
whom  the  eyes  of  all  his  men  are  fixed  at  every  hour, 

245 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


must  go  over  the  top  ahead,  stand  up  in  order  that 
his  men  may  lie  down  and  expose  himself  first  to 
the  hurricane  of  fire. 

In  almost  all  of  our  regiments  for  four  years  and 
a  half,  five  times,  eight  times,  ten  times,  the  staff 
of  officers  has  been  renewed.  Scarcely  in  one  divi- 
sion on  the  battle  line,  does  one  find  five  or  six 
captains  or  lieutenants  who  already  had  their  golden 
bars  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  Also  the  stripes 
on  their  left  arm  bear  witness  that  they  only  have 
been  half  spared. 

Clemenceau  realizes  that  it  is  to  such  a  precious, 
select  body  of  men  chosen  during  the  torment,  mag- 
nificent for  their  moral  value,  energy  and  spirit,  that 
one  owes,  in  great  part,  the  long  resignation  of  our 
armies,  their  untiring  spirit,  our  victories,  and  the 
maintenance  of  the  sublime  state  of  soul  which  has 
given  them  to  us.  He  appreciates  their  merit  and 
their  sacrifices.  He  is  grateful  to  them  for  theif 
great  role  of  the  safeguarding  of  France. 

Without  doubt  he  is  one  of  those  who  think  that 
after  having  erected  symbolic  statues  to  the  pictur- 
esque and  stoical  poilus,  the  saviors  of  the  country, 
we  shall  not  in  this  way  have  paid  all  our  debt  if 

246 


AT  THE  FRONT 


we  do  not  erect  on  some  Paris  square  a  monument 
to  the  admirable  infantry  officer,  glorious  martyr, 
rushing  to  death  at  the  head  of  his  soldiers,  and  to 
his  brother  in  heroism  and  endurance,  his  faithful 
companion  of  the  first  lines,  of  the  nerve-racking 
bombardment  of  the  big  guns,  the  officer  of  the 
trench-mortars. 

Clemenceau  is  happy  in  the  midst  of  such  men. 
He  is  glad  to  listen  to  them,  to  speak  to  them,  and 
to  let  them  feel  his  gratitude  and  respect. 

And  these  brave  leaders  give  him  a  hearty  wel- 
come. Immediately  their  will  for  victory  is  in  com- 
munion with  his  ardor. 

The  youth  of  this  astonishing  old  man  makes 
them  marvel.  His  spirit  is  in  unison  with  their  en- 
thusiasm and  their  gayety.  Therefore,  they  are 
eager  as  soon  as  he  appears. 

And  when  the  chance  of  his  wandering  seats  him 
at  breakfast  at  their  mess,  the  half  hour  passed 
around  him  is  enchanting.  His  playful  and  bril- 
liant vitality  conquers  them,  his  faith  exalts  them. 

It  is  he,  however,  who  feels  himself  their  debtor 
because  of  the  moral  force  that  emanates  from  the 
assemblies  of  these  young  heroes,  and,  also,  because 

247 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


of  the  great  increase  in  confidence  and  hope  which 
he  brings  away  from  them. 

Much  direct  evidence  made  it  my  duty  to -note  the 
impression  which  his  air  and  his  words  leave  on 
these  officers,  free  in  their  judgment,  the  most  of 
them  of  a  savage  independence,  who  each  day  com- 
ing back  from  afar,  are  not  dazzled  either  by  fame 
or  by  office  and  only  speak  thus  because  they  think 
thus. 

The  great  leaders  of  our  armies,  the  generals,  the 
commanders  of  units,  know  that  under  his  orders 
they  do  their  duty  in  full  security. 

Their  minister  is  hard  but  frank.  With  him 
there  is  neither  slyness  nor  cowardliness  to  be 
feared. 

Head  of  the  government,  he  conducts  the  war; 
but  he  does  not  interfere  in  the  details  of  opera- 
tions. There  is  never  any  irresolution  nor  haggling. 

When  a  maneuver  has  been  decided  upon,  it  is 
carried  out  to  the  end.  Even  when  it  does  not  give 
all  the  results  that  one  hoped,  if  those  who  have 
executed  it  are  not  responsible  for  its  failure  by 

248 


AT  THE  FRONT 


some  stupid  mistake,  Clemenceau,  firm  and  loyal, 
protects  them.  He  is  not  the  man  to  lighten  his 
responsibilities  by  the  choice  of  scapegoats.  His 
uprightness  condemns  such  subterfuges  to  which 
he  would  never  have  recourse. 

He  places  the  greatest  confidence  in  those  whom 
he  considers  worthy,  and  does  so  until  he  has  been 
so  deceived  that  he -begins  to  fear  for  the  success 
of  his  work  of  liberation. 

He  shows  himself  pitiless  only  for  carelessness, 
folly,  and  blameworthy  thoughtlessness.  Then  for 
the  safety  of  the  country  he  does  not  hesitate  be- 
fore any  punishment  as  hard  as  it  may  be. 

All  these  great  leaders  of  war,  which  war  has 
made,  or  whose  previous  advancement  the  war  has 
justified,  love  his  resoluteness,  his  energy,  and  his 
strength. 

They  feel  themselves  at  ease  with  him,  the  charm 
of  his  good  humor  works  upon  them  also.  No 
minister  is  less  solemn.  Man  of  action  himself,  he 
understands  men  of  action.  He  has  their  soul.  He 
knows  how  to  speak  to  them,  and  his  patriotic  pas- 
sion accords  with  theirs. 

249 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


He  has  the  same  cordial  frankness  with  the  gen- 
erals of  the  Allied  armies.  M.  Clemenceau  visits 
them  often.  Attentive  to  all  their  efforts,  he  does 
not  fail  to  tell  them  with  what  sympathy  France 
follows  the  development  as  well  as  the  results. 
They  like  his  energy  and  his  good  humor.  They 
do  not  conceal  how  much  they  are  pleased  by  his 
clear-sightedness,  his  resoluteness,  and  also  by  his 
original  fancy  which,  even  expressed  in  English, 
keeps  all  its  charm  of  spontaneity. 

The  chief  of  our  government  speaks  English 
with  much  ease.  By  this  bond,  intimacy  becomes 
closer  and  easier.  So  many  misunderstandings  can 
be  thus  avoided.  And  the  hearts  of  all  of  these  men, 
so  different,  overflow  with  feelings  so  alike,  that 
they  feel  a  real  joy  to  be  able  to  communicate  with- 
out an  interpreter  their  fervor  and  their  hope. 

Just  as  Clemenceau  admires  their  boldness  and  as 
his  uprightness  is  at  ease  in  the  presence  of  their 
loyalty,  they  like  his  clear  conceptions,  his  lofty 
reason  and  the  rigorousness  oi  his  logic.  They  have 
confidence  in  him  and  seem  always  to  take  pleasure 
in  seeing  him.  Among  our  allies,  his  gift  as  an  in- 
spirer  of  men,  is  strongly  appreciated.  Confidence, 

250 


AT  THE  FRONT 


sympathy,  personal  influence,  together  with  the  dan- 
ger that  he  has  run,  explain  the  success  of  his 
intervention  at  tragic  hours. 

The  unity  of  command,  indispensable  for  victory, 
existed  in  fact,  in  a  certain  measure,  under  the 
glorious  command  of  the  victor  of  the  Marne.  But 
the  principle  had  never  been  formally  recognized. 
At  the  departure  of  Marshal  Joffre  this  very  desir- 
able unity  was  broken  in  practice. 

Our  enemies  knew  marvellously  how  to  profit  by 
the  weakness  which  resulted  from  the  lack  of  co- 
hesion. Many  times  the  peril  had  appeared  to 
clear-sighted  minds,  but  they  tried  in  vain  to  remedy 
it.  It  was,  alas,  only  in  the  face  of  catastrophe  that 
prejudices  gave  way,  that  pride  consented  to  listen 
to  reason. 

Suddenly  after  years  of  relative  security,  the 
formidable  German  waves  rolling  from  the  Russian 
frontier,  sweeping  along  an  immense  quantity  of 
material,  as  they  passed  the  garrisons  of  the  depots, 
were  in  danger  of  submerging  everything. 

They  are  pouring  in  all  together  at  the  most 
vulnerable  point  and  the  scattered  condition  of  our 
forces  does  not  permit  the  rapid  barrage  which 

251 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


would  make  them  flow  back.  During  two  days  the 
mad  to  Paris  is  practically  open.  The  whole  mass 
is  likely  to  be  able  to  rush  through  the  breach. 

Hours  of  the  greatest  danger  which  France  and 
civilization  have  run  since  1914.  Days  and  nights 
of  anxiety!  Those  who  read  on  the  map  the  ter- 
rible threat  have  not  yet  told  all  the  fear  with  which 
they  were  panting. 

In  the  midst  of  these  powerful  waves,  whose  fury 
was  carrying  everything  along,  Clemenceau,  calm  as 
always  in  battle  when  he  can  act,  calls  the  ministers 
and  the  generals  of  the  Entente  to  a  council  for  the 
supreme  resolutions. 

Are  they  going  to  compromise,  through  childish 
obstinacy,  the  future  of  humanity?  His  patriotism 
has  such  accents,  his  reason  speaks  so  loftily  and 
so  clearly,  his  ardor  so  sets  on  fire  their  hearts, 
that  soon,  with  Foch  aiding,  they  are  convinced, 
hearts  are  won,  all  resistance  is  broken.  From  the 
little  house  of  Doullens  with  its  great  historic  scene 
past  the  unity  of  command  was  realized  once  for  all. 
That  day  the  barbarian  was  struck  down. 

History  will  tell  later  the  details  of  that  decisive 
day.  It  does  honor  to  all  of  those  who  played  a 

252 


role.  But  one  can  believe  that  the  pressing,  moving 
argument  of  M.  Clemenceau  was  aided  by  the  con- 
fidence which  he  had  inspired  for  a  long  time  in  his 
interlocutors,  by  the  sympathy  of  his  firm  character, 
and  the  loftiness  of  spirit  his  mind  had  awakened  in 
them. 

Now  on  the  roads  of  the  front,  he  is  constantly 
going  toward  Germany  and  to-morrow  he  will  pass 
our  frontiers.  He  encounters,  among  the  ruins,  in 
their  cities  and  in  their  villages  systematically  de- 
vastated, the  French  population  held  in  slavery  for 
four  years,  hungry,  put  up  for  ransom,  victims  of 
humiliations,  of  butcheries  and  of  nameless  out- 
rages, which  the  soldiers  of  the  Entente  have  just 
freed  from  the  German  yoke. 

His  heart  bleeds.  Forty  years  ago  he  had  prom- 
ised to  do  everything  so  that  the  soul  of  the  coun- 
try should  not  be  outraged  again,  so  that  the  soil 
of  the  country  should  not  be  sullied  again.  Now  he 
sees  again,  with  what  aggravations  of  tortures,  of 
anguish,  of  misery,  the  frightful,  the  grievous  spec- 
tacle. He,  the  enemy  of  all  violence,  sees  the  most 

253 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


atrocious  proofs  of  voluntary  violence,  useless  and 
cruelly  refined  in  its  horror. 

As  soon  as  our  tricolor  floats  anew  over  the  re- 
captured cities,  he  goes  there.  Passing  in  the  midst 
of  the  soldiers  of  liberty  who  continue  their  vic- 
torious march  while  singing,  he  rushes  to  these  old 
men,  these  women,  these  children,  finally  snatched 
from  servitude  and  torture. 

These  moments  of  first  meeting  are  poignant. 
The  heart  beats  as  if  it  would  break.  Here,  at  the 
edge  of  the  village,  at  the  turn  of  a  city  street,  are 
our  compatriots,  intoxicated  at  feeling  they  are  free. 
Emaciated,  in  the  midst  of  the  ruins,  bearing  the 
marks  of  their  long  torture  which  they  have  borne 
so  stoically,  weeping  for  their  dead  and  for  the 
hostages  driven  away  by  butts  of  guns  toward  the 
tombs  of  German  jails,  they  await  France,  they 
come  to  meet  France.  In  spite  of  so  much  grief 
and  misery  their  hearts  are  radiant  with  joy  as 
their  skeletons  of  houses  are  decked  with  flags. 

While  awaiting  the  president,  M.  Raymond  Poin- 
care,  who  will  be  there  to-morrow  and  whose 
patriotism  will  know  how  to  speak  to  these  grief- 
stricken  freed  slaves,  a  comforting  language,  France 

254 


AT  THE  FRONT 


comes  to  them,  cordial,  tender  and  warm,  in  the 
person  of  M.  Clemenceau. 

He  is  too  firm  ever  to  have  tears  in  his  eyes,  but 
his  low,  broken  voice  betrays  his  emotion.  It  is 
rumbling  with  restrained  sobs.  Then  suddenly 
pulling  himself  together,  Clemenceau  wants  it  to 
vibrate  with  happiness,  with  hope,  with  faith.  For 
this  liberated  region  the  nightmare  is  over.  While, 
under  the  flash  of  our  cannon,  it  is  disappearing 
elsewhere,  here  it  is  necessary  to  think  from  this 
day  on,  of  the  future,  to  prepare  it,  to  rebuild  the 
city  for  future  generations  for  which,  in  the  most 
terrible  battle,  our  soldiers  are  winning  the  neces- 
sary security. 

What  does  he  say  to  these  trembling  people,  drunk 
with  the  happiness  of  no  longer  feeling  that  they 
are  slaves  and  with  having  found  again  maternal 
France  whom  all,  perhaps,  did  not  believe  to  be  so 
sweet  and  dear. 

Scarcely  has  he  spoken  to  them  ardent  and  af- 
fectionate words,  which  are  like  an  embrace,  when 
he  invites  them  to  the  immediate  work  of  recon- 
struction. He  calls  them  to  work  because  he  knows 
that  with  France  in  ruins  no  one  has  a  right  to  be 

255 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


lazy  and  that,  after  so  much  suffering,  laziness  might 
be  a  bad  counselor.  That  is  his  first  word.  Indeed 
never  was  work  more  necessary. 

This  churned-up  earth,  these  piled-up  ruins,  these 
long  perspectives  of  desolation  which  he  has  had 
to  traverse  to  reach  this  part  of  France,  have  made 
M.  Clemenceau  reflect  on  our  past  errors  and  on  the 
work  of  resurrection. 

He  thinks  of  the  salutary  efforts  from  which 
political  quarrels  have  sometimes  turned  us  away, 
of  the  unbelievable  waste  of  energy  caused  too  often 
by  political  hatreds. 

These  vast  cemeteries  where  lie  so  many  young 
heroes  who  have  sacrificed  themselves  to  pay  for 
our  mistakes,  to  save  the  country  compromised  by 
our  discords,  these  interminable  visions  of  distress 
which  overwhelm  the  heart,  dictate  to  him  moving 
words  of  tolerance  and  of  social  harmony. 

In  a  feeling  of  pity  for  France  and  for  ourselves, 
let  us  not  add  through  grudges,  suspicion  and  the 
violence  of  our  internal  struggles,  weakness  to  so 
much  death,  hatred  to  so  much  grief. 

Companions  in  sorrow  and  anguish,  let  us  love 
one  another,  let  us  respect  one  another! 

256 


AT  THE  FRONT 


Ought  not  this  unheard  of  cataclysm  to  be  a  be- 
ginning of  a  new  era? 

At  Lille,  at  Tourcoing,  at  Roubaix,  among  these 
people  who  welcome  him  with  the  Marseillaise  and 
who  rush  to  this  fervent  old  man  who  brings  them 
the  spirit  of  French  hearts,  with  a  grave  melancholy 
but  also  with  much  joy  and  hope,  as  soon  as  the  first 
words  of  meeting  are  exchanged  he  says,  on  the 
spur  of  the  moment: 

"Henceforth  we  must  be  more  than  ever  united 
against  the  enemy,  at  first  to  finish  the  work  of  the 
war,  and  then  to  harness  ourselves  to  the  equally 
difficult  work  of  peace. 

"The  ancient  republics  were  destroyed  through 
internal  dissension.  We  have  almost  suffered  the 
same  fate.  May  the  terrible  war  which  leaves  far 
behind  all  that  we  have  seen  in  history,  even  the 
wars  of  the  revolution,  serve  as  a  lesson  for  us. 
Let  us  have  our  differences  of  opinion ;  let  each  have 
his  preferences,  but  let  us  respect  the  opinions  of 
others,  may  there  be  none  but  Frenchmen,  all 
brothers,  communing  in  the  same  love  for  the 
country. 

"Let  us  think  of  France.  We  have  not  always 
257 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


been  models  of  wisdom.  We  must  realize  the 
union  of  all  citizens.  We  must  not  ask  any  one  to 
give  up  his  convictions.  Let  us  put  into  practice 
the  device,  Liberty,  Equality,  Fraternity,  graven 
on  all  our  monuments.  Thus  will  the  work  of  peace 
be  achieved  as  soon  as  the  punishment  of  the  Boches 
is  assured." 

The  memory  of  numberless  graves  by  which  he  so 
often  passed  during  four  years,  the  terrible  haunting 
fear  of  this  abominable  destruction,  the  wails  of 
the  victims  crying  vengeance  will  inspire  M.  Cle- 
menceau  when,  in  the  name  of  country,  he  will  out- 
line the  necessary  conditions  in  order  that  the  sword 
of  France  may  be  sheathed. 

After  having  sworn  the  oath  in  1871  not  to  bow 
before  force,  to  remain  faithful  to  Alsace-Lorraine 
and  never  renounce  the  reparation  of  the  crime,  he 
has  surely  sworn  to  himself  the  new  oath  to  neglect 
nothing  in  order  that  France,  trampled  four  times 
in  an  hundred  years,  bloody,  covered  with  ruins, 
may  never  have  to  fear  again  such  wounds. 

Possessing  great  popularity  as  head  of  the  Gov- 

258 


AT  THE  FRONT 


ernment,  he  is  responsible  to  future  generations  for 
our  future  security. 

Knowing  marvellously  all  our  history  and  all  our 
traditions  unchangeable  through  all  the  political  up- 
heavals, he  knows  all  the  precautions  which  are  in- 
dispensable to  protect  the  West  of  Europe  against 
the  Teutonic  flood,  to  keep  the  peace  of  the  world 
from  being  at  the  mercy  of  a  madness  for  world 
power  and  rapine,  to  allow  the  noble  ideal  of  France, 
humane  and  just,  to  be  realized  in  happy  labor  and 
in  peace. 

His  patriotism  will  give  him  the  force  to  demand 
all  the  collective  and  individual  punishment  of  the 
authorities  who  made  of  our  country  a  land  of 
horror.  He  will  demand  all  the  reparation  in 
money,  machinery,  material  and  labor,  for  the 
ravages  systematically  carried  out.  He  will  insist 
upon  all  the  restitutions  in  annual  payments  in  gold, 
wood,  coal,  etc.,  and  especially  upon  the  rigorous 
guarantees  which  will  remove  from  the  nation  the 
German  army  and  will  keep  it  from  being  recon- 
stituted. 

All  his  speeches  in  regard  to  this  are  so  many 
solemn  promises  which  will  help  to  give  us,  in 

259 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


tears,  in  anxiety,  in  grief,  the  courage  to  suffer  and 
to  struggle. 

For  the  realization  of  this  promise,  M.  Clemen- 
ceau  is  in  perfect  accord  with  M.  Raymond  Poin- 
care,  president  of  the  Republic,  whose  proud  and 
firm  words  have  strengthened  us  by  the  same  prom- 
ises, with  the  energetic  declarations,  so  ardently 
French,  of  M.  Antonin  Dubost,  interpreter  of  the 
will  of  the  Senate,  with  the  eloquent  speeches  of 
M.  Paul  Deschanel,  interpreter  of  the  feelings  of 
representatives  of  the  nation. 

France  wants  justice  to  be  done  and  her  future  to 
be  saved. 

Then,  when  the  treaty  of  peace  shall  have  been 
dictated  to  Germany  under  the  ruined  arches  of  the 
cathedral  of  Reims — a  symbol  of  all  the  dishonor- 
able destruction  uselessly  carried  out  by  these  vile 
people — when  peace  shall  have  been  signed  at  Ver- 
sailles in  the  same  Galerie  des  Glaces  where,  in  1871, 
German  unity  was  triumphantly  proclaimed  in  the 
form  of  the  Empire  established,  not  for  peace  but 
for  conquest,  when  our  victorious  soldiers  shall  have 
passed  under  the  Arc  de  Triomphe  to  receive  the 

260 


AT  THE  FRONT 


homage  of  the  nation  whose  great  citizens  they  shall 
become,  then,  quietly,  his  hat  cocked  on  the  side  of 
his  head,  his  cane  over  his  shoulder,  the  great 
Minister  of  National  Deliverance  will  go  to  his  little 
apartment  in  Rue  Franklin  where  he  has  thought 
so  much  for  France,  where  he  has  worked  so  much 
for  her. 

He  will  find  again  his  wonderful  books  which 
have  taught  him  so  much,  the  books  of  contempo- 
rary writers  which  help  him  to  understand  the  pres- 
ent better,  the  books  of  young  writers  which  he 
never  neglected  and  which  make  him  foresee  the 
morrow. 

The  famous  hat  with  earlaps,  his  hunter's  cap, 
which  during  the  most  terrible  of  hunts,  sometimes 
on  his  head,  sometimes  rolled  between  feverish  fin- 
gers, will  have  been  present  at  so  many  famous 
interviews,  will  take  up  the  dance  before  the  blank 
paper. 

The  little  knocked-in  hat,  with  the  brim  pulled 
down,  will  only  be  used  on  rare  days  when  he  walks 
in  the  woods. 

And  doubtless  toward  three  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, Clemenceau,  impatient  to  follow,  hour  by  hour, 

261 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


the  reorganization  of  the  world,  the  reawakening 
of  French  activity,  the  achievement  in  peace  of  the 
work  accomplished  by  him  in  war,  will  go  with  the 
same  haste  to  lift  up  his  door-mat  to  find — before 
they  arrive — the  latest  dispatches  in  order  to  think 
over  and  write  sooner  his  article  for  the  day. 

May  he  be  able  to  give  it  to  us  for  a  long  time 
still,  in  order  that  France  may  know  how  to  profit 
by  her  victory  and  may  not  be  conquered  in  her 
triumph  by  a  renewal  of  her  mistakes. 

May  he  then  with  an  increase  in  authority  which 
his  glorious  service  to  France  will  give  him,  write, 
for  the  teaching  of  all  citizens,  the  book  on  Democ- 
racy of  which  he  has  often  spoken  to  his  intimate 
friends.  He  will  bring  to  it  all  his  experience  of 
men,  institutions  and  customs.  He  will  tell  what  a 
free  people  ought  to  do  to  harmonize  order  and 
liberty,  to  quicken  its  reason,  to  spare  the  fearful 
waste  of  its  forces,  to  give  workers  more  benefit 
of  their  labor,  to  assure  a  better  continuity  of  effort 
and  power,  to  give  a  better  moral  life  to  the  coun- 
try, to  give  it  a  more  just  sense  of  the  real  while 
developing  its  idealism,  to  assure  it,  by  better  teach- 

262 


AT  THE  FRONT 


ing,  an  education  indispensable  to  one  who  wishes 
to  be  worthy  of  liberty. 

After  the  war,  if  he  wishes  to  stay  out  of  politics, 
with  his  pen,  Clemenceau  can  still  serve  France  by 
one  of  the  means  of  expression  over  which  he  has 
acquired  such  mastery. 

Let  him  aid  the  French  democracy,  to  establish 
the  reign  of  reason,  liberty,  justice  from  which  she 
is  still  so  far  removed  and  in  which  each  one,  not 
demanding  rights  which  encroach  upon  the  rights 
of  others,  will  acquit  himself,  punctiliously  and 
without  any  constraint  except  the  moral  law,  of  the 
corresponding  duties. 

Without  this,  the  Republic  is  only  the  deceiving 
parody  of  a  high  ideal. 

Let  us  hope  especially  that  M.  Clemenceau,  be- 
.  cause  he  still  has  duties  toward  the  country,  will 
be  willing  to  render  us  the  supreme  service  not  in 
leaving  us  in  writing  the  testament  of  his  experi- 
ence, and  of  his  meditations,  but  of  organizing  in 
the  government  itself,  the  industrial  awakening  of 
France  and  its  political  life  in  the  peace  he  will  have 
won  for  us. 


VICTORY  * 

THE  ARMISTICE  SAVES  THE  BEATEN  GERMAN 
ARMY 

WRITTEN  during  the  days  of  supreme  effort, 
I  am  finishing  this  book  when  the  hoped-for 
victory,  for  which  we  have  made  such  sad  sacrifices, 
has  at  last  recompensed  France's  stoicism,  consoled 
her  for  her  mourning,  precluded  the  possibility  of 
her  resting  buried  beneath  her  civilization's  glorious 
ruins.  Victory's  light  shines  in  our  eyes,  wet  with 
tears  after  so  much  mourning  and  anguish.  Vic- 
tory's wings  beat  above  the  banners  of  triumph  and 
joy  which,  since  the  sound  of  the  cannon  an- 
nouncing our  deliverance,  fly  joyously  from  every 
window. 

Not  only  France,  but  the  world's  liberty,  man- 
kind's peaceful  future,  are  saved — things  for  whose 

*  Translated  By  John  L.  B.  Williams. 
264 


VICTORY 

safety  the  most  free  and  peaceful  peoples  of  the 
world  have  stood  united. 

And  Clemenceau,  the  flame  of  whose  energy  has 
inspired  all  hearts,  whose  foresight  and  faith  have 
put  new  life  into  the  forces  of  the  Entente  and  the 
United  States,  too  scattered  until  he  came,  enjoys 
the  supreme  recompense  of  seeing  the  beaten  bar- 
barians submit  to  victorious  Right,  of  seeing  France 
and  civilization  henceforth  free  from  the  German 
menace. 

His  heart,  never  trembling  even  in  the  worst  days, 
gives  way  to  the  sweetness  of  this  resurrection.  The 
old  man  who  stoically  steeled  himself  so  long  against 
every  weakness  and  tenderness  lets  his  tears  flow. 
He  weeps  for  joy ;  he  weeps  at  the  recollection  of  all 
the  suffering  and  sorrow  which  have  paid  for  this 
triumph.  So  overcome  is  he  with  happiness  and 
compassion  that  he  does  not  think  of  hiding  his 
tears. 

"I  can  die  now,"  he  says  with  poignant  sincerity 
to  the  men  who  come  near  him  in  victory's  first 
moments. 

To  bring  about  this  victory  he  had  assembled  and 
265 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


exerted  all  his  strength.  He  had  asked  to  live  only 
until  this  supreme  moment  came. 

Now  that  France  and  all  the  world  are  safe,  he 
feels  justified  in  resting  from  such  a  terrible  effort 
of  will  and  even  in  closing  his  eyes  on  the  vision  of 
Peace. 

But  to  build  a  solid  foundation  for  the  future  of 
the  free  peoples,  to  realize  the  benefits  of  the  victory 
Justice  has  won,  M.  Clemenceau's  clear-sighted  firm- 
ness is  still  essential  to  the  councils  of  the  French 
Government  and  also,  in  perfect  unison  with  the 
resolute  firmness  of  the  allied  plenipotentiaries,  to 
the  meetings  of  the  Peace  Conference.  Let  us  re- 
joice that  M.  Clemenceau's  heart,  which  the  weight 
of  war  and  anguish  could  not  break,  did  not  break 
for  joy  when  peace  came. 

After  a  time  of  mortal  danger  when,  on  two  occa- 
sions, March  and  May,  1918,  all  seemed  lost,  Vic- 
tory appeared  for  the  first  time  on  the  evening  of  our 
national  fete  day,  that  terrible  night  of  July  four- 
teenth-fifteenth, 1918,  when  Paris,  breathless  with 
anxiety,  heard  the  roar  of  furious  cannonades  as 
General  Gouraud's  unconquerable  soldiers  stopped 
the  German  rush.  Then,  on  July  eighteenth,  Vic- 

266 


VICTORY 

tory  shone  forth  brighter  than  ever  when,  under 
General  Fayolle  and  his  officers,  well  worthy  of  hav- 
ing such  a  commander — Generals  Mangin,  Humbert 
and  Debeney — our  troops,  assisted  by  American  and 
Italian  soldiers,  broke  the  enemy's  lines. 

Little  by  little,  week  by  week,  Victory  came  nearer^ 
with  a  force  that  was  irresistible,  under  the  genial 
inspiration  of  Marshal  Foch,  commander-in-chief  of 
the  Entente's  armies,  thanks  to  the  clear  and  method- 
ical science  of  war  evidenced  by  Marshal  Petain,  to 
the  skillful  maneuvering  of  his  colleagues,  Generals 
Maistre,  Degoutte  and  Berthelot,  to  name  only  the 
most  famous,  and  to  the  Belgian  army,  electrified 
by  the  presence  of  its  King,  that  true  knight.  And 
as  the  American  armies  with  their  brave,  well 
equipped  men  (under  General  Pershing,  whose  no- 
ble, simple  modesty  equals  that  of  American  his- 
tory's greatest  men)  entered  the  fray  valiantly  and 
enthusiastically,  the  German  retreat  was  hastened  on 
every  front. 

Demoralized  by  severe  checks  following  too  great 
hopes,  by  the  continuous  attacks  of  the  free  allies, 
by  sudden  assaults  that  were  everywhere  successful, 
which  followed  one  another  rapidly  in  different 

267 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


places  and  against  different  positions  and  which  gave 
them  no  respite,  the  German  armies — still  fighting 
but  invariably  beaten — retreated  day  after  day. 

In  Flanders  and  at  Saint-Mihiel,  on  the  Oise  and 
in  Champagne,  in  the  Argonne,  on  the  Piave,  Vic- 
tory followed  our  flags.  But  when  will  worn-out 
and  defeated  Germany  realize  hopeless  disaster? 
When  will  she  admit  this  fact  to  herself  and  to  other 
nations?  Will  winter  come  before  her  leaders  re- 
sponsible for  this  monstrous  enterprise  capitulate  to 
us  and  to  their  people,  unless  the  disbanding  of  their 
armies  forces  them  to  it? 

At  that  very  moment  Bulgaria  falls  under  Fran- 
chet  d'Esperey's  blows.  His  master  strokes  carry 
out  General  Guillaumat's  plans.  Turkey,  worn  out 
by  suffering  and  hopeless  sacrifices,  follows  Bul- 
garia's lead.  These  disasters  prove  to  Germany — 
and  to  the  rest  of  the  world — that  her  cause  is  lost. 

For  eighteen  months  past  Austria  has  not  had 
courage  enough  to  follow  up  her  desire  for  peace. 
She  feels  that  the  game  is  up,  and,  to  gain  a  little 
indulgence,  decides  to  accept  any  terms  she  can  get, 
on  knees  bended  in  thankfulness. 

A  sign  of  the  times!  A  certain  proof  of  Vic- 
268 


VICTORY 

tory!  Now  the  end  indeed  begins.  For  years  M. 
Clemenceau  has  been  acting  rather  than  speaking 
and,  great  orator  that  he  is,  has  been  condemning 
himself  to  silence.  He  mounts  the  tribune  to  an- 
nounce the  armistice  with  Austria  and  to  make  its 
conditions  known.  He  is  careful  to  state,  first  of 
all,  that  even  if  deliverance  is  at  hand,  we  are  none 
the  less  not  at  the  end  of  the  war,  and  that  great 
efforts  may  still  be  necessary  to  bring  that  about. 
But  later,  when  Victory  is  a  certainty,  with  what 
greatness  of  mind  and  what  spirit  of  Justice  he 
speaks  for  France,  for  her  allies,  of  his  own  part, 
recognizing  the  faults  and  mistakes  he  has  made: 

"Let  me  tell  you,"  he  says  first  of  all,  in  response 
to  the  applause,  "I  am  not  worthy  of  so  much  hom- 
age. What  I  have  done,  France  has  done.  Through 
you  she  has  willed  it,  and  through  you  I  have  been 
able  to  do  it 

"They  told  us  we  wanted  war.  Yes,  we  wanted 
it,  after  Germany  attacked  us,  but  we  wanted  it  to 
insure  a  just  peace  with  its  necessary  guarantees. 

"Men  who  have  seen  with  their  own  eyes  what 
the  Germans  have  done  in  the  invaded  territory 
will  understand  that,  after  such  crimes,  it  is  out  of 

269 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


the  question  for  us  not  to  demand  guarantees  that 
will  prevent  these  things  from  happening  again. 

"This  is  the  most  formidable  war  the  world  has 
ever  seen.  With  the  advance  of  armaments,  with 
scientific  progress  and  the  interest  entire  peoples 
now  take  in  hurling  themselves  into  battle  to  ob- 
tain their  rights,  I  ask  you  what  they  would  become, 
what  all  the  human  race  would  become,  if  they  were 
exposed  to  future  wars  surpassing  all  those  which 
we  have  seen.  I  do  not  want  to  see  this,  and  I  need 
not  say  that  no  man  wants  it.  Words  are  beau- 
tiful, deeds  are  difficult,  cruel,  sad,  at  times.  .  .  . 

"It  must  be  said.  If  we  had  not  had  allies  in 
this  war  we  could  not  have  triumphed.  No  single 
one  of  the  allies  could  have  triumphed  without  the 
assistance  of  the  others.  In  some  quarters  that 
statement  will  appear,  perhaps,  to  diminish  our 
glory:  but  in  that  very  fact  I  see  a  better  chance 
for  mankind's  future. 

"We  have  made  friends  with  our  old  enemies,  the 
English.  We  love  them.  For  we  see  the  prodi- 
gies of  valor  they  have  done  on  our  battlefields. 

"The  Minister  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  the  Presi- 
dent of  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  have  just  ren- 

270 


VICTORY 

dered  their  homage  to  glorious  Belgium,  to  noble 
Italy,  to  Greece  and  to  Serbia,  as  well  as  to  all  the 
new  born  peoples  who  are  about  to  find  themselves 
relieved  from  the  frightful  yoke  and  who,  thanks 
to  us  and  to  our  allies,  are  about  to  live  again  for 
the  true  glory,  that  of  Justice  and  Liberty. 

"I  do  not  speak  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
our  friends  of  long  standing.  When  they  came  to 
our  country  we  were  already  friends,  we  have  found 
each  other  again. 

"Our  alliance  for  war  must  be  followed  by  an 
unbreakable  alliance  for  peace. 

"The  peoples  of  the  world  have  come  to  realize 
that  all  their  interests  are  one. 

"We  have  won  the  war.  Perhaps  we  shall  have 
to  wait  for  some  time  for  the  peace  that  is  to  fol- 
low it.  But  henceforth  destiny  has  fixed  for  an  in- 
definite time  the  fortunes  not  only  of  France  but 
of  all  the  countries  that  are  worthy  of  Liberty. 

"Let  us  unite!  Let  us  continue  our  discussions 
of  ideas,  but  let  these  discussions  cease  when 
France's  interests  are  at  stake. 

"Let  me  tell  you  this.  Truly  it  is  necessary  that 
we  be  humanitarian,  but  it  is  necessary  that  we  be 

271 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Frenchmen  first  of  all.  It  is  necessary  that  we  be 
Frenchmen  because  France  represents  a  conception 
of  idealism,  of  humanity  which  has  prevailed 
throughout  the  world,  and  because  it  has  never  been 
possible  to  serve  humanity  without  France's  being 
present. 

"The  time  has  come  when  great  and  magnificent 
victory's  dawn  breaks,  when  our  thoughts  turn 
towards  the  ends  of  union  and  fraternity.  This  is 
what  I  would  ask  you.  And  if  any  one  wishes  to 
know  who  has  asked  it  of  you,  you  may  say  France 
herself  has  done  so.  You  will  not  be  alone  in  this 
great  humanitarian  crusade,  for  we  have  all  car- 
ried on  our  part  of  the  struggle.  Also  at  this  cru- 
sade's end,  I  should  like  to  change  slightly  our  an- 
cestors' formula  and  to  have  us  promise  that  we 
shall  be  brothers  in  the  word's  true  meaning,  and 
that,  if  we  are  asked  who  has  inspired  us  with  this 
thought,  we  answer,  'France  wills  it,  France  wills 
it!'" 

These  are  the  noble  and  simple  words  of  a  man 
who,  disdainful  of  oratorical  artifice,  interrogates 
his  conscience  to  express  with  emotion  all  the 

272 


VICTORY 

thoughts  which,  in  that  moment  of  patriotic  expres- 
sion, rise  from  his  serene  heart. 

When,  in  the  midst  of  applause  which  will  not 
stop,  M.  Clemenceau  descends  from  the  tribune,  the 
Chamber  of  Deputies,  which  has  been  standing  for 
several  minutes  to  show  its  gratitude  to  him,  crowds 
around  him,  while  continuing  its  applause,  to  escort 
him  to  his  seat.  And  in  the  midst  of  hands 
stretched  out  towards  his  or  waved  about  his 
face,  Clemenceau  makes  his  way  through  the  inter- 
minable ovation,  calm,  grave,  modest,  making  in 
reply  to  this  enthusiasm  the  gesture  of  cordial  pro- 
test which  is  habitual  to  him. 

Already  shattered  by  four  months  of  uninter- 
rupted defeat,  the  German  army  and  the  German 
nation  feel  themselves  incapable  of  further  sacri- 
fices. The  people  at  home,  who  have  lost  all  hope 
of  ultimate  victory  for  German  arms,  finish  and 
complete  the  army's  discouragement.  The  news  of 
the  armistice  with  Austria  astounds  the  beaten  sol- 
diers, in  their  ranks  mutiny  starts.  Their  leaders 
feel  that  nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  prolonging  the 
conflict.  To-morrow  a  severe  defeat  following 
three  months  of  retreat  may  result  in  the  disgrace- 

273 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


ful,  irreparable  disbanding  of  the  troops.  At  this 
very  moment — and  the  German  General  Staff  is 
not  ignorant  of  the  fact — a  formidable  offensive  is 
being  prepared  in  Lorraine  under  General  de  Cas- 
telnau,  who,  since  he  will  find  opposed  to  him  scat- 
tered and  inferior  opponents,  will  carry  all  before 
him. 

Then,  beaten,  on  the  eve  of  certain  disaster,  Ger- 
many asks  for  grace  and  raises  surrender's  white 
flag.  Under  this  protection  German  ministers  and 
generals,  frightened  at  seeing  the  spirit  of  demor- 
alization and  revolt  increase  hourly  in  their  defeated 
armies  and  among  their  people,  who  are  at  the  end 
of  their  strength — the  Kaiser  has  taken  refuge  in 
headlong  flight — cross  the  lines  to  hear  our  armis- 
tice conditions  dictated.  These  conditions  are 
harsh.  Prudence  and  humanity  would  have  de- 
manded that  they  be  even  more  so.  Behind  them 
the  German  envoys  feel  the  growing  tempest  that 
threatens  to  overturn  Germany  so  that,  in  their 
haste  to  announce  to  the  German  people  that  the 
war  is  over,  they  concede  everything  to  the  allied 
demands. 

The  world  is  free !  Free  peoples  can  hope  for  a 
274 


VICTORY 

peaceful  future!     Humanity  is  freed  from  the  op- 
pressive brutalities  of  force. 

At  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning  on  Monday,  the 
eleventh  of  November,  the  bells  of  every  church 
and  the  cannon  of  every  nearby  fort  announce  the 
deliverance  of  the  world  to  Paris,  which  instantly 
is  adorned  with  flags.  How  joyously  they  wave  in 
autumn's  sun !  In  spite  of  so  much  mourning  and 
anguish,  joy  is  in  all  hearts.  But  think  of  what 
must  have  passed  at  that  moment  in  the  soul  of  the 
great  French  minister,  whose  energy,  mastery  of 
himself,  unconquerable  belief  in  justice,  even  ia 
the  most  critical  days  galvanized  all  the  workers 
for  victory — military  and  civil  alike — into  the  ac- 
tion that  produced  the  triumph  of  the  Right 


On  Tuesday,  the  fourth  of  August,  1914,  as  I 
came  out  of  the  Palais  Bourbon,  my  eyes  were  full 
of  tears,  my  heart  was  heavy  with  anguish.  But  it 
was  full  of  hope.  I  had  just  been  present  at  the 
session  in  which,  at  a  grave  communion  of  all  the 

275 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


nation's  representatives,  the  war  measures  were 
voted.  I  then  promised  myself  not  to  return  to  the 
Palais  Bourbon  until  the  session  that  announced 
Victory  was  held. 

I  returned  to  the  Palais  Bourbon  on  the  eleventh 
of  November,  1918.  Alas,  with  what  sorrow  in 
my  joy,  and  with  what  a  feeling  of  solitude  in  the 
joyous  throngs!  For  during  those  four  years  of 
furious  and  frightful  battle,  how  many  heroes  have 
died  that  France  might  not  die!  In  one  day  of 
apotheosis  after  so  much  suffering,  Victory  shines 
above  France  which  has  so  well  deserved  it  and, 
radiant,  fills  the  rooms  of  the  Palais  Bourbon.  Sor- 
row is  borne  along  on  Victory's  wings,  rustling  in 
the  light  of  freedom.  But  what  emotion  is  set  free 
throughout  all  this  glorious  day ! 

On  that  tragic  afternoon  in  1914,  to  make  our 
way  to  the  Chamber  of  Deputies,  in  the  silence  of  the 
streets  with  their  closed  shops,  in  the  silence  of 
Paris  suddenly  emptied  by  mobilization,  we  met 
some  women  with  downcast  looks,  grief  stricken. 
We  met  some  foreigners  who  marched  behind  the 
flags  of  their  nations  to  fight  for  France  under  the 
tri-color,  for  the  liberty  of  the  world.  Paris  was 

276 


VICTORY 

firm  and  resigned  to  her  fate.  But  the  force  of  the 
drama  was  wearing  on  her,  and  a  feeling  of  op- 
pression was  everywhere. 

Now  there  were  only  expressions  of  joy  and  hope. 
In  the  golden  sunlight  of  an  autumn  day — our  hap- 
piness made  the  sunlight  appear  all  the  more  golden 
— from  basement  to  ridge-pole  the  city's  houses 
were  decorated.  On  every  house,  even  in  the  most 
humble  streets,  the  flags  of  rejoicing  smiled  down 
on  crowds  whose  enthusiasm  lent  life  to  the  city's 
wonderfully  decked  out  spectacle. 

The  multitude  marches  along  in  the  streets. 
Every  one  is  decorated  with  a  ribbon  or  a  cockade. 
They  are  together,  brought  there  by  the  necessity 
of  being  with  other  Frenchmen  who,  like  them,  are 
radiant  with  the  same  hope  and  the  same  joy.  They 
exchange  delighted  words,  happy  smiles.  One  great 
bond  of  friendship  unites  all  hearts.  They  don't 
know  where  they  are  going.  But  each  one  of  the 
multitude  finds  himself  moved  by  an  instinctive  need 
to  let  himself  be  carried  along  to  the  statues  of 
Strassburg  and  Lille. 

From  the  multitude  rises  a  sound  like  the  ocean's 
roaring.  In  a  thousand  places  songs  start  up. 

277 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


While  the  cannon  echo  the  great  national  pride,  the 
"Marseillaise"  sounds  forth  everywhere.  All  at 
once,  in  this  chaos  of  joy,  escorts  improvise  them- 
selves around  a  banner  which  some  one — nobody 
knows  who — carries.  In  one  immense  feeling  of 
brotherhood,  men  and  women  who  never  saw  each 
other  before,  take  arms  and  singing,  force  their 
way  through  the  crowds  in  their  pilgrimage  towards 
the  statues.  Somehow,  in  the  midst  of  such  a 
crowd,  there  is  always  a  drum  or  a  horn,  eager  to 
beat  the  rhythm  or  sound  the  note  of  its  tremen- 
dous joy. 

Oh,  Michelet,  you  who  loved  France  so  much  and 
spoke  so  movingly  of  her  great  emotions,  why  are 
you  not  here  to  write,  with  your  ardent  lyric  spirit, 
the  poem  of  this  national  brotherhood! 

Farther  along,  people  dance  about  a  poilu,  mad 
with  enthusiasm,  or  they  gather  around  an  em- 
barrassed Tommy,  or  American  soldier.  Then  here 
are  sailors,  arms  linked  in  those  of  fresh  Breton 
girls,  whose  caps  bob  about  in  the  crowd,  opening 
a  path  through  the  mob  as  they  dance  their  native 
"roulee." 

Make  way  for  this  splendid  procession.  Through 
278 


VICTORY 

this  anthill  of  people  gathered  about  the  trophies 
captured  from  the  Germans  and  assembled  in  the 
Place  de  la  Concorde,  men  force  their  way,  drag- 
ging by  a  hundred  ropes  a  Boche  cannon  on  which 
are  perched  women  and  children,  singing  as  they 
are  dragged  through  the  streets. 

Around  the  Palais  Bourbon  the  crowd  is  trans- 
figured with  enthusiasm  and  good  humor.  It 
knows  perfectly  well  that  it  won't  be  able  to  get  in- 
side the  building  or  to  see  anything.  It  simply 
wants  to  be  there  to  take  part  in  the  great  national 
act  which  is  going  to  be  accomplished.  A  wall  may 
separate  in  a  physical  sense  the  people  from  this  act, 
for  the  people  can't  get  into  the  Chamber  of  Depu- 
ties itself.  But  the  people  are  present.  With  all 
their  souls  the  people  are  in  close  communion  with 
the  chief  actors  in  the  impressive  ceremony  that  is 
taking  place  inside,  for  the  chief  actors  are  the 
mouth-piece  of  the  people's  emotion  and  fervor. 

In  the  Chamber  the  galleries  are  full.  I  got  there 
at  the  minute  the  doors  opened.  The  first  persons  to 
appear  in  the  galleries  were  three  women  in  deep 
mourning  sorrowing  mothers  or  widows  who  seek 

279 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


consolation  in  their  grief  by  witnessing  the  solemn 
proclamation  of  the  results  which  their  dear  ones' 
sacrifice  has  won.  There  will  be  no  more  of  that. 
These  mourning  figures  are  prominently  placed  be- 
cause it  is  necessary  that  the  memory  of  the  dead 
— which  they  symbolize — be  present  in  the  spirit 
of  the  assembly. 

The  representatives  arrive.  M.  Paul  Deschanel 
enters,  his  arrival  being  accompanied  by  long  ap- 
plause which  precedes  and  follows  him.  M.  Des- 
chanel, grave,  deeply  moved,  takes  the  president's 
chair,  and  I  recall  that  meeting  on  the  fourth  of 
August,  1914.  I  hear  again,  as  if  it  were  yester- 
day, M.  Viviani's  firm,  sad,  confident  speech,  re- 
calling all  the  vexations  and  threats  which  we  had 
suffered  for  forty-four  years,  recalling  our  meri- 
torious patience,  presenting  proofs  of  premeditated 
German  aggression,  of  which  we  were  the  victims. 

On  that  day  I  heard  him  with  tears  in  my  eyes, 
with  fast  beating  heart,  when  he  mentioned  the  mod- 
est naval  force,  none  the  less  precious,  which  Eng- 
land already  had  promised  us  (we  did  not  know  at 
that  time  that  Belgium  would  be  invaded  and  that 

280 


VICTORY 

this  violation  of  Justice  would  place  Great  Britain 
on  our  side,  upstanding,  with  all  her  forces). 

Once  again  I  see  the  six  hundred  deputies  rise  to 
their  feet — the  old  revolutionist,  Vaillant,  first  of 
all — at  each  mention  of  France,  Alsace-Lorraine, 
Belgium,  Serbia,  and  Russia,  whose  ambassadors 
occupied  the  diplomatic  box.  On  that  day  party 
politics  were  absent  from  the  Chamber.  The  spirit 
of  the  "sacred  union,"  for  which  the  President,  M. 
Raymond  Poincare,  had  just  found  the  noble  for- 
mula, reigned  in  the  hearts  of  every  man  present. 
The  drama's  opening  was  at  hand.  The  first  shells 
were  about  to  burst.  Our  soldiers  continued  to 
flow  through  the  railroad  stations  on  their  way 
towards  the  frontier.  We  listened  with  beating 
hearts  to  the  story  of  the  first  battles.  I  still  hold 
in  my  memory  the  short,  splendid  speech  M.  Vivi- 
ani  improvised  when,  after  having  gone  to  read  the 
same  declaration  to  the  Senate,  he  returned  to  the 
Chamber.  And  I  recall  that  speech  by  M.  Des- 
chanel,  restrained  and  inspiring  at  the  same  time. 
After  that  began  the  heavy  silence  of  battle's  eve. 
Here  was  a  session  one  left  with  his  very  heart 
bruised. 

281 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


But  on  the  eleventh  of  November,  1918,  the  feel- 
ing is  one  of  relief  and  of  joy.  It  is  not  yet  time 
for  the  conditions  of  the  armistice  to  be  read  to 
the  Chamber  of  Deputies.  That  moving  communi- 
cation shall  be  made  at  four  o'clock.  Waiting  for 
that  time,  the  deputies  follow  their  usual  procedure 
according  to  the  order  of  the  day.  M.  Deschanel, 
who  occupies  the  president's  chair  as  he  did  in  1914, 
as  he  has  occupied  it  for  fifteen  years  with  splendid, 
French  dignity,  states  that  there  are  questions  for 
discussion  which  concern  the  French  people  and  that 
it  would  be  noble  to  discuss  them  at  such  a  mo- 
ment. The  assembly  accords  with  this  viewpoint, 
and  the  audience  in  the  galleries,  in  spite  of  its  im- 
patience, resigns  itself  to  waiting. 

Suddenly  there  is  a  series  of  sounds.  Some  thou- 
sands of  students,  women  and  workmen,  in  the  be- 
lief that  M.  Clemenceau  will  pass  that  way  in  pro- 
ceeding from  the  Ministry  of  War  to  the  Chamber, 
massed  themselves  in  front  of  the  Palais  Bourbon 
and  in  the  nearby  streets.  The  formidable  weight 
of  this  crowd,  against  which  no  one  could  do  any- 
thing, forced  its  way  into  the  court  of  the  Palais, 
which  is  on  the  rue  de  Bourgogne.  The  crowd 

282 


VICTORY 

sings  the  "Marseillaise";  it  cheers  Clemenceau  and 
cheers  him  again.  M.  Aristide  Briand,  who  hap- 
pens along,  speaks  a  few  magician's  words  to  them. 
M.  Paul  Deschanel,  who  also  happens  along  dur- 
ing a  brief  interval  of  silence,  directs  them  with  a 
magnificent  gesture  towards  the  statue  of  Strass- 
burg.  M.  Clemenceau  appears  for  a  moment  at  a 
window  to  end  this  interminable  ovation.  Very 
modestly,  he  tells  his  admirers  to  shout  "Vive  la 
France!" 

The  session  is  resumed  in  the  Chamber.  Every 
deputy  is  there,  either  seated  or  standing  in  a  half- 
circle.  Anxious  to  avoid  a  theatrical  entrance,  M. 
Clemenceau  comes  in  quietly.  The  eyes  of  those 
present  are  not  slow  in  discovering  him.  They 
recognize  the  familiar  head,  the  quick,  sharp- 
pointed  glance  of  his  black  eyes.  The  crowd  of 
deputies  opens  before  him.  Clemenceau  enters  with 
a  slow  step,  his  bearing  is  simple.  A  tremendous, 
long-drawn-out  shout  of  recognition,  of  admiration 
and  of  friendliness  greets  him.  The  deputies  and 
the  spectators  rise  and  applaud  him  endlessly. 

Clemenceau  makes  a  simple,  grave  gesture,  now 
283 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


to  this  side  and  now  to  that,  with  his  gray-gloved 
hands  or  by  an  inclination  of  his  mighty  head. 
Now  he  has  been  seated  for  some  time.  Appar- 
ently he  is  perfectly  calm,  quite  unmoved,  but  in 
reality  he  is  deeply  moved.  The  ovation  contin- 
ues. From  the  benches  the  deputies  rush  to  clasp 
his  hands  and  to  thank  him.  The  socialist  Jean 
Bon  follows  Abbe  Lemire — a  symbol  of  the  sacred 
union  which  is  tremendously  applauded. 

In  spite  of  his  incomparable  mastery  of  himself, 
Clemenceau  is  deeply  moved.  He  feels  that  in  this 
day  of  consummation  he  can  give  way  to  his  emo- 
tion. Persons  who  know  well  his  voice,  his  ges- 
tures and  his  facial  expressions  are  aware  that  he 
is  mastered  by  this  emotion.  In  the  morning  of 
that  day,  when  he  held  in  his  hands,  duly  signed, 
this  armistice  which  avenges  our  dead,  which  real- 
izes our  hopes,  he,  whom  no  one  had  ever  seen 
weep,  burst  into  tears.  He  is  the  sole  survivor  of 
the  protesting  delegates  who,  in  the  assembly  at 
Bordeaux,  swore  fidelity  to  Alsace-Lorraine.  He 
has  kept  the  solemn  pledge.  He  feels  with  him  all 
the  old  companions  of  his  hope.  And  our  hearts 

284 


VICTORY 

place  them  properly  at  his  side.     It  is  a  beautiful 
sight,  when  Clemenceau  sheds  these  tears. 

In  the  tribune,  his  raised  hand  asks  for  silence. 
And  then,  in  a  voice  that  emotion  chokes,  he  profits 
by  this  fervent  union  of  souls  to  beg  that  it  be  pro- 
longed for  France's  good. 

"Let  us  all  promise,  in  this  moment,  to  work  al- 
ways with  all  the  strength  of  our  hearts  for  the  pub- 
lic good." 

Noticeably,  in  this  splendid  day  in  French  life, 
M.  Clemenceau  is  being  more  simple  and  sober  than 
is  usual  with  him.  As  much  as  possible  this  great 
orator  tries,  in  these  moments,  not  to  be  eloquent, 
but  to  permit  stuff  that  history  is  made  of  speak 
for  itself. 

After  adjusting  his  spectacles  and  pushing  back 
the  green  cover  that  binds  the  armistice  terms,  he 
commences  briefly,  with  energetic  dryness  in  his 
voice,  under  which  one  feels  great  emotion  welling 
up,  to  read  the  articles  of  the  armistice,  far-seeing 
and  carefully  thought  out,  whose  very  harshness 
guarantees  for  us  in  the  future  the  peace  which  our 
soldiers  have  won  and  which  France  needs  to  pre- 
serve her  peaceful  happiness. 

285 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


As  we  hear  the  well-ordered  succession  of  pre- 
cautionary measures,  we  feel  the  relief  that  work, 
long  considered,  clearly  conceived,  made  with  ten- 
der thought  for  the  present  and  future  safety  of 
France,  in  which  nothing  is  forgotten  nor  left  to 
chance,  brings  to  our  hearts. 

Every  clause  of  the  armistice  is  strongly  ap- 
plauded. And  all  this,  inspired  as  it  is  by  enthusi- 
asm, happiness  and  appreciation,  increases  ten-fold 
to  salute  the  portions  of  the  armistice  which  assure 
us  the  best  satisfactions  and  the  most  precious  guar- 
antees. 

"This  morning,  at  eleven  o'clock,  firing  ceased  on 
all  fronts,"  declares  M.  Clemenceau,  in  the  voice  of 
a  man  who  utters  a  cry  of  deliverance. 

In  the  future  no  more  dead,  no  further  mutila- 
tions, no  new  mourning.  This  ends  the  nightmare. 
And  as  the  articles  of  the  armistice  are  being  read, 
cannon  sound  from  time  to  time,  solemnly  punc- 
tuating each  one  of  them.  It  echoes  under  the  roof 
of  the  Palais  Bourbon.  It  echoes  even  more  in  all 
our  hearts. 

With  the  same  spirit  are  saluted  the  clause  pro- 
viding for  the  immediate  restitution  of  Alsace-Lor- 

286 


VICTORY 

raine,  the  no  less  rapid  return  of  prisoners,  both 
military  and  civil,  the  surrender  of  murderous  air- 
planes and  submarines,  the  occupation  of  the  Rhine 
frontier  and  of  the  large  cities  which  are  at  the 
strategic  bridgeheads. 

Every  one  stands  and  applauds  frantically  when, 
with  firm  voice,  with  sober  pride  in  his  tones, 
Clemenceau  recalls  that  it  is  by  the  force  of  her  vic- 
torious arms  that  France  is  freed.  And  then,  to 
emphasize  better  for  the  gratitude  of  the  country's 
representatives,  the  genial  and  glorious  leader  who 
directed  the  deliverance,  like  a  trumpet  call  Clemen- 
ceau pronounces  the  name  of  Marshal  Foch,  among 
the  first  of  the  names  signed  to  the  armistice. 

He  closes  the  documents  containing  the  armistice, 
he  removes  his  spectacles.  Then  M.  Clemenceau, 
who  so  far  has  dispensed  with  all  comment  on  the 
statements  so  justly  pitiless,  overcome  by  the  sublim- 
ity of  such  an  event  and  such  a  time,  as  if  all  other 
words  were  superfluous,  pronounces  these  four 
phrases,  which  the  cannons'  imperious  voices  ac- 
company : 

"In  the  name  of  the  French  people,  in  the  name 
of  the  Government  of  the  French  Republic,  I  send 

287 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


the  greeting  of  France,  one  and  indivisible,  to  our 
regained  Alsace  and  Lorraine." 

Then,  with  one  grand  gesture,  which  carries  his 
homage  to  all  the  graves  scattered  over  France: 

"Honor  to  our  great  dead,  who  have  won  this 
victory  for  us." 

At  this  moment  a  new  roar  of  cannon  sounds  in 
the  glorious  silence.  The  applause  is  warmer  than 
ever. 

"When  our  living,"  continued  M.  Clemenceau, 
"on  their  return  pass  in  review  before  us  on  our 
boulevards  as  they  march  towards  the  Arc  de  Tri- 
omphe,  we  shall  cheer  them  to  the  echo.  Salute 
them  in  advance  for  the  world  they  have  made 
anew." 

Then  with  a  magnificent  burst  of  spirit,  contain- 
ing the  eloquence  which  comes  forth  from  his 
French  heart  and  from  the  depths  of  his  emotion, 
with  his  arms  raised  above  his  head,  he  unites  the 
glory  of  all  stages  in  our  country's  history : 

"Thanks  to  them  France,  yesterday  the  soldier  of 
God,  to-day  the  soldier  of  mankind,  will  always  be 
in  the  future  the  soldier  of  the  Ideal." 

288 


VICTORY 

The  rest  is  silence.  Silence  on  Clemenceau's 
part,  that  is.  Mastering  his  emotion  with  simple 
dignity  he  descends  from  the  tribune.  The  greater 
part  of  his  hearers  hasten  towards  him.  Only  to 
shake  his  hands  do  their  hands  cease  applauding. 
An  enthusiastic  escort  follows  him  to  his  bench, 
where  words  of  gratitude  keep  coming  to  him  for 
a  long  time,  while  the  Chamber  and  the  galleries 
do  not  tire  in  their  applause. 

M.  Paul  Deschanel  in  a  short,  pathetic  speech, 
winged  with  inspiration,  sings  in  his  turn  the  de- 
liverance of  Alsace-Lorraine  and  the  glory  of  our 
soldiers. 

This  hymn  the  thunder  of  cannon  also  accom- 
panies. Speaking  in'  the  name  of  the  representa- 
tives of  France,  over  whose  labors  he  presides  and 
who  subscribe  to  his  sentiments  with  an  enthusias- 
tic ovation,  M.  Deschanel  promises  our  returned 
province  respect  in  every  way  "for  their  beliefs, 
their  traditions,  their  customs  and  their  liberties." 
A  noble  and  solemn  pledge  which  will  be  kept! 

Scarcely  has  the  long  drawn  out  applause  ceased 
when,  with  a  very  happy  thought,  M.  Albert 

289 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


Thomas  proposes  that  the  representatives  from  Al- 
sace-Lorraine, present  during  the  session  in  the  gal- 
leries, receive  the  honors  of  the  Assembly.  In  re- 
sponse to  a  cordial  gesture  of  invitation,  M.  Des- 
chanel  makes  toward  a  box,  Abbe  Wetterle,  Dep- 
uty for  Colmar,  and  the  representative  for  Metz, 
M.  Georges  Weil  in  the  horizon-blue  uniform  of  a 
captain  in  the  French  army,  are  brought  to  the 
front  of  a  box  from  the  back  of  which  they  have 
followed  the  proceedings  of  the  session.  They  bow 
in  response  to  an  immense  ovation. 

Then,  since  he  is  expected  in  the  Senate  to  per- 
form the  same  task,  M.  Clemenceau  rises  to  make 
his  way  out.  The  entire  Assembly  rises  at  the  same 
time.  There  is  loud  applause.  A  long  cry  of  grat- 
itude accompanies  him  to  the  door — "Long  live 
Clemenceau!  Long  live  the  Republic!  Long  live 
France."  And  in  an  ardent  communion  of  their 
hearts,  deputies,  journalists,  spectators  of  both 
sexes,  and  even  the  members  of  the  diplomatic  corps 
sing  the  "Marseillaise."  These  are  inspiring  mo- 
ments !  Exaltation  of  the  soul  fills  one's  eyes  with 
tears,  consoles  one  a  little  in  sorrow! 

The  cannon  are  silent.  After  a  short  suspension 
290 


VICTORY 

of  the  session  M.  Renoult,  President  of  the  Com- 
mission of  the  Army,  in  a  noble  speech  asks  the 
Chamber  to  proclaim  that  our  great  soldiers  and  the 
great  chiefs  so  worthy  of  them,  Clemenceau  and 
Foch,  have  deserved  well  of  the  State.  He  renders 
solemn  homage  to  Marshal  Joffre,  the  conqueror 
of  the  Marne  and  the  Yser,  he  glorifies  the  Repub- 
lic. His  are  eloquent,  just  words,  which  shall  be 
remembered. 

Finally,  in  the  midst  of  so  much  applause,  M. 
Alexandre  Varenne,  socialist  to  the  depths  of  his 
French  heart,  with  particular  inspiration  finds  the 
means  to  gain  loud  applause  from  the  Assembly  by 
pronouncing  these  noble  words  which  do  him 
honor : 

"At  this  most  solemn  moment  of  all  history,  this 
moment  which  sees  a  new  world  spring  into  being, 
we  have  in  our  hearts  infinite  gratitude  for  all  those 
who  have  contributed  to  the  work  which  victory 
has  just  crowned.  How  are  we  to  thank  them  all  ? 
By  taking  an  oath  to  serve  them  with  all  our 
strength.  Union  has  won  the  victory.  Let  us  think 
of  to-morrow,  perhaps  more  difficult  in  its  prob- 
lems than  to-day.  And  let  us  swear  not  to  forget 

291 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


the  magnificent  hour  we  have  just  lived  through !" 
And  after  the  vote  of  thanks  to  Clemenceau, 
Foch,  to  the  armies  and  to  their  leaders,  with  a  last 
burst  of  applause  the  gathering  goes  its  way  with 
uplifted  soul. 

Outside,  following  four  years  of  darkness  and 
sadness,  there  is  the  joyous  resurrection  of  life. 

The  city  is  illuminated.  Arc  lights  shine  down 
on  the  dancers  and  the  joyous  crowds  which  force 
their  way  through  the  streets  to  the  sound  of  the 
"Marseillaise."  Great  hope  fills  all  hearts.  These 
are  the  great  days  of  reward  which  France  has  mer- 
ited by  her  stoicism,  her  courage  and  her  faith  in 
herself. 

FOR  THE  PEACE  OF  THE  WORLD  IN 
JUSTICE  AND  LIBERTY 

Soon  afterwards  the  representatives  of  the  free 
nations  assemble  at  Paris  to  organize  peace  and  to 
preserve  the  future  from  unjust  violence. 

Paris,  affectionate,  touched  and  grateful,  ac- 
claims, in  the  person  of  President  Wilson,  the  Re- 
public of  the  United  States,  which  with  such  superb 

292 


VICTORY 

enthusiasm  has  risen  in  her  might  to  safeguard  the 
ideal  with  which  her  birth  was  illuminated. 

At  the  first  meeting,  by  unanimous  vote  of  the 
people,  by  the  voices  of  President  Wilson,  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  Signer  Sonnino,  who  speak  for  their 
respective  nations,  with  warm  applause  from  all  the 
delegates,  M.  Clemenceau  is  chosen  President  of 
the  Peace  Conference. 

With  what  elevation  and  serenity  of  mind  he 
speaks!  With  what  confidence,  also,  in  the  work 
which  is  to  be  accomplished,  in  the  future  of  the 
brotherly  spirit  of  friendship  which  has  won  victory 
for  the  allied  arms !  These  are  the  words  in  which, 
acknowledging  the  honor  which  was  thus  done  to 
bruised,  bleeding  and  devastated  France,  and  to  him- 
self, he  points  out  the  grandeur  in  mankind's  his- 
tory of  this  imposing  union  of  the  civilized  nations 
of  the  world  for  undertaking  such  a  beautiful  task: 

"President  Wilson,"  he  said,  "has  particular  au- 
thority for  saying  that  this  is  the  first  time  that  a 
delegation  made  up  of  all  the  civilized  peoples  of 
the  world  is  collected  together.  The  greater  the 
bloody  catastrophe  has  been  which  has  devastated 
and  ruined  one  of  France's  richest  parts,  the  broader 

293 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


and  finer  ought  to  be  the  reparation,  not  only  for 
actual  damage — reparation  in  the  vulgar  sense,  if  I 
may  say  so — which  is  due  to  us,  but  the  more  noble 
and  higher  reparation  which  we  are  trying  to  bring 
about  in  order  that  peoples  may  escape  from  this 
fatal  restraint  which,  piling  up  ruins  and  sorrows, 
terrorizes  whole  peoples  and  does  not  permit  them 
to  bend  their  energies  to  work  through  fear  of  the 
enemies  who  can  descend  upon  them  the  next  day. 
A  great  and  noble  eagerness  has  come  to  us  all ;  we 
must  hope  that  success  will  crown  its  efforts.  It 
can  be  thus  only  if  we  have  ideas  which  are  fixed 
and  eternal.  I  said  some  days  ago  in  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  and  I  repeat  here  that  success  is  pos- 
sible only  if  we  remain  firmly  united.  WE  HAVE 

COME  HERE  AS  FRIENDS,  WE  MUST  GO  OUT  OF  THIS 

DOOR  FRIENDS.  That  is  the  first  thought  I  have  to 
express  to  you.  Everything  ought  to  be  subordi- 
nated to  the  necessity  for  the  strictest  union  between 
the  people  who  have  taken  part  in  this  great  war. 
The  League  of  Nations  is  here,  it  is  in  you;  it  is 
your  duty  to  make  it  live,  and  to  bring  that  about 
it  must  be  in  your  hearts.  I  have  told  President 

294 


VICTORY 

Wilson  that  there  are  no  sacrifices  to  which  we  are 
not  ready  to  consent. 

"I  do  not  doubt  that  you  are  disposed  to  do  this. 

"We  shall  arrive  at  this  conclusion  only  on  the 
condition  of  forcing  ourselves  to  conciliate,  in  an 
impartial  manner,  interests  apparently  contradic- 
tory, only  by  taking  the  broader  viewpoint  of 
greater,  happier  and  better  humanity. 

"Gentlemen,  that  is  what  I  have  to  say  to  you. 

"I  am  touched  beyond  expression  to  witness  the 
confidence  and  friendship  which  you  wish  to  give 
me. 

"The  program  of  this  Conference  has  been  set  up 
by  President  Wilson;  it  is  no  longer  a  peace  con- 
cerning greater  or  smaller  territories  which  we  have 
to  make,  it  is  no  longer  a  peace  of  continents.  It  is  a 
peace  of  peoples.  This  program  is  sufficient  in  it- 
self. Further  words  would  be  superfluous  to  add. 
Gentlemen,  let  us  try  to  act  quickly  and  well." 

The  peace  conference  found  in  this  wise  and 
sober  discourse  the  sentiments  which  animate  it 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


THE  CRIME 

Under  the  driving  force  of  M.  Clemenceau — who, 
while  occupying  himself  with  not  letting  France  be 
enslaved  under  her  glorious  but  terrible  ruins,  thinks 
only  of  establishing  the  reign  of  liberty  and  jus- 
tice in  the  world — the  Peace  Conference  was  follow- 
ing to  completion  its  difficult  work  when  an  as- 
sassin's revolver  just  missed  striking  down  this  en- 
ergy which  is  employed  only  for  mankind's  peace- 
ful development. 

The  crime  was  the  deed  of  a  weak  minded  per- 
son, intoxicated  by  anarchistic  proposals,  the  un- 
thinking worker  of  German  hatred,  which  in  the 
future  can  count  only  on  the  deeds  of  the  Bolsheviki, 
in  all  the  allied  countries,  to  escape  reparation  for 
its  crimes. 

Happily,  although  the  assassin's  bullets  lodged 
very  near  certain  vital  organs,  the  great  old  man's 
astonishing  physical  youth  quickly  repaired  the  dis- 
orders resulting  from  such  a  grave  wound,  which, 
especially  at  that  age,  might  well  have  been  mortal. 

France  understood  that  in  striking  down  Clemen- 
ceau, the  incarnation  of  the  French  soul  and  of 

296 


VICTORY 

French  hopes,  it  was  France  herself  who  was 
aimed  at. 

From  the  moment  when  the  news  of  that  crime 
was  made  known,  in  every  part  of  our  country  and 
in  every  class  of  the  people  a  great  cry  of  anguish 
and  horror  arose.  For  two  weeks  an  uninterrupted 
stream  of  old  men,  soldiers,  students,  women  and 
young  girls  came  to  the  illustrious  wounded  man's 
modest  lodgings  with  flowers  in  their  hands  to  ex- 
press words  of  indignation,  gratitude  and  hope. 

Besides,  by  the  unanimous  manifestations  of  their 
anxiety  and  their  sadness,  the  free  peoples  ex- 
pressed that  they  considered  the  attack  on  M. 
Clemenceau  an  attack  against  the  great  peaceful  re- 
organization of  the  world  of  which  they  will  all  be 
the  beneficiaries. 

M.  Clemenceau  alone,  in  the  sad  emotion  of  the 
first  moments,  preserved  his  sang-froid,  his  spir- 
ituelle  joviality  and  the  good  humor  which  never 
forsakes  him,  just  as  he  always  did  in  the  most  crit- 
ical times. 

On  foot,  calm,  with  slow  steps,  in  spite  of  the 
bullet  which  interfered  with  his  breathing,  he 

297 


THE  TIGER  OF  FRANCE 


crossed  the  vestibule  and  the  court  of  his  house,  as 
he  made  his  way  towards  his  apartment. 

Perhaps  he  was  a  little  pale — one  would  be — but 
he  marched  in  his  usual  way  with  his  shoulders 
erect,  his  black  eye  sharp  and  keen,  his  fighting  cap 
in  its  usual  position  on  the  corner  of  his  head.  And 
in  his  face  the  bystanders  noticed  the  astonished 
and  sardonic  smile  usually  there  when  he  is  face  to 
face  with  something  stupid  or  dull. 

Twenty  minutes  later  he  had  sufficient  moral  and 
physical  strength  to  tell  M.  Raymond  Poincare — 
the  President  of  the  Republic  who  had  affectionately 
hurried  there  to  tell  him  his  patriotic  sense  of  re- 
lief and  his  personal  happiness  to  see  M.  Clemen- 
ceau  unharmed — with  the  humor  which  is  peculiar 
to  him,  his  impressions  while  the  shooting  was  go- 
ing on : 

"When  I  felt  the  whistle  of  the  first  bullet  so 
near  my  head  I  muttered,  'The  animal  shoots  well.' 
At  the  second  shot  (which  was  indiscreet  enough  to 
get  inside  of  me  as  far  as  my  lung) ,  I  said,  'But  he 
shoots  too  well.'  Finally,  under  this  rain  of  bul- 
Jets  which  whistled  about  my  ears  and  almost  didn't 
stop  there,  I  reflected,  'at  least  my  enemies  will  not 

298 


VICTORY 

be  able  to  insinuate  any  longer  that  I  haven't  ballast 
in  my  head — lead  ballast.' ' 

Thus,  compelling  himself  to  be  like  himself  in 
this  supreme  peril — as  in  all  the  dangerous  hours  of 
his  life — M.  Clemenceau  added  some  picturesque 
words  to  the  ineffaceable  anecdotes  which  can  be 
told  about  his  energy  and  sang-froid. 

These  words,  thought  out  and  pronounced  in  such 
a  moment,  make  us  understand  better  the  mastery 
which  such  a  man  could  keep  over  his  nerves  and 
brain  in  the  great  war's  most  terrible  hours. 

For  the  peaceful  future  of  all  the  free  peoples  as 
well  as  for  the  rebuilding  of  murdered  France,  what 
good  fortune  it  is  that  the  glorious  old  man,  so  clear 
sighted  and  so  resolute,  stands  at  the  helm  of  our 
country's  ship  of  state! 

This  last  scene  throws  in  brilliant  relief  the  man's 
attractive  figure.  France,  happy  in  finding  in  him 
her  ardent,  firm  and  jovial  soul,  salutes  M.  Clemen- 
ceau as  "Minister  of  Victory."  This  title  history 
will  preserve  for  him. 

THE  END 


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